First Saint League
by UnitedOsprey1991
Summary: AU Same world as Bleach Grand Prix. Its the start of the new season of the Fiore First Saint League. Join Magnolia City as they rise to the top of Fiore's soccer league. But there are shadows working to make sure that Magnolia City doesn't win. Can Natsu, Lucy and their comrades raise above adversity. Nalu and OC/Lisanna the focus
1. Fiore New Comers

**He** **Hello everyone. UnitedOsprey1991 here. Welcome to my first new story in like a year. This is First Saint League, An AU Fairy Tail story involving our favorite characters playing the world's most popular sport, Football, or Soccer to you Americans.**

 **Some background on this. This has been in my head since June of 2014. You see one my closest friends on the site, Lalapie203 is a huge soccer fan. We got to talking during the World Cup that year and this idea evolved from there. I promised her the first new story I started on would be this story and this is me fulfilling that promise.**

 **Now poor Lala hasn't been feeling well, a lot of different issues I won't go into here but suffice to say I hope this story will help her recovery. Go check her stuff out they are cute and funny.**

 **Anyway, things will be a bit different than Grand Prix. One is I know what I am doing now. Two I see this as a much larger project because of the number of games I want to show. Three, this is going to involve more off the field stuff and I also will introduce some realistic stuff that has unfortunately been apart of soccer in most if not all non U.S Soccer games. How I will write the story and keep track of stuff will be down at the bottom. I can tell you, I will show our heroes playing at least once against everyone in the league. For Plot related reasons, some of them will have their second match shown.**

 **One last thing, Fiore will be in the real world. In fact it will be in the same universe as Bleach Grand Prix. There are a couple of references in that story, check out Chapters 20 and 24. For reference sake, it will be in Southern Europe, next to Greece on a peninsula that juts out into the Mediterranean with a few islands as well. Those who follow Grand Prix should know what happened in that world.**

 **Anyway, standard Disclaimer rules apply. I don't Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. If I did, Nalu would be a reality and Zeref would be dead and Natsu alive.**

Normal text: Speaking or normal talking

' _Quotes and Italics': Thoughts_

 **Bold: Yelling**

Underline: Location and Time in match

Person's name followed by a colon: In-game announcer

Chapter 1: Camp Magnolia City

Date: August 5th, 2069, on a train heading towards Magnolia, Fiore about 11:30 AM

Fiore, a country with a long and proud tradition. A country of over 17 million people that has long been a player in the Mediterranean. The country's history can be traced to the Byzantine Empire. The Ottoman Empire bent on spreading its influence beyond its roots, fought the Byzantine Empire and slowly conquered its various holdings. One country to its south resisted fiercely. In the Battle of Belladona, the territory, referring itself as the Kingdom of Fiore, beat back the Ottoman Empire, forcing it to declare a peace with the Kingdom and established it as an independent state. For three centuries, Fiore and the Ottoman fought for control of the Sea, until the Empire splintered after the Napoleonic Wars. Satisfied with its peace, it became a major trade partner in Southern Europe. When World War 1 broke out, they stayed out of the war and nominally helped the Allied powers but were forced out after the Gallipoli campaign. Thirty Years later, Hitler tried to take Fiore for himself. Led by the Queen Ilene, Fiore resisted while its neighbor Greece fell. They stalled them long enough that Operation Barbarossa was delayed long enough that Russia could stand a chance. After the war, they joined the NATO alliance and enjoyed the prosperity the post war economy gave it.

After a hundred years, Fiore was threatened again. This time by Mother Nature herself. The Glacial Floods that affected the rest of the world did not spare the country of Fiore. But she did not count on Fiore's resourcefulness and its stubbornness. Taken a page from Denmark and from Panama, they built canals and lochs that could be raised and lowered depending on the weather and connected the various islands together using a similar technique that the Arabic world did to reclaim land. Their efforts were put to the test in the Floods of 2050. Thanks to great engineering, the country was spared significant damage, and their economy began to recover in a similar way to most of the rest of Europe.

In its long history, Fiore has long been a player in European politics having been part of NATO, the UN and the European Union. In this culture exchange, perhaps one of the most defining things brought to Fiore was Football. Brought over by an English team at the turn of the 20th century, in 190, the Fiore Football Association was established and soon their clubs were competing against other clubs from around Europe. They have even taken part in several World Cups, the furthest they ever got was a quarterfinal appearance in 2046. Their top tier league, The First Saint League is considered one of the elite leagues in Europe, as of 2069, they were ranked fifth in the UEFA coefficient rankings, behind Spain's La Liga, England's Premier League, Germany's Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A. One of the things that made them unique was they were among the only leagues that was completely co-ed both at the national and club levels and a couple of their biggest stars at the moment were women.

On this train heading for one of the largest cities in Fiore, is a very pretty blonde 20 year old woman. She was wearing a white blouse with a blue cross over her well-endowed chest. On her legs was a blue skirt and knee length boots and her blonde hair was in a side ponytail. She was looking through a magazine that was depicting several players, her eyes focusing on two girls in particular.

"Oh wow, Erza and Mira are so pretty and so athletic. I can't wait to meet them." The girl gushed.

"Excuse me?" A male voice with a weird accent asked. She turned to see a young man about her age with naturally tan skin brown hair, brown eyes covered by glasses and was wearing a pair of shorts and a red t-shirt that said FSU for some reason. He was also carrying three bags with him, a duffel bag a suitcase and a computer bag. Based on the broken words, he was still learning the Fioran language.

"Yes?" Lucy replied in English.

"Can I sit here?" He asked.

Lucy nodded and the man put his stuff up.

The man breathed in relief, "Oh thank god, someone can speak my language. Had a hard time getting on the train. Sorry where are my manners. Stephen Decatur at your service, Miss?"

"Lucy Heartfillia. A pleasure. Where are you from? England? Ireland?" Lucy said listing off the English speaking nations.

"America." Stephen replied. "New Jersey born and educated, Family is from from Florida. Most of my family is from the Southern U.S."

Lucy was surprised. An American travelling with that much gear wasn't there as a tourist. He had some other agenda. "What are you doing all the way in Fiore?"

Stephen chuckled. "Would you believe I came here to play soccer? I played a couple of years of college ball before I turned pro. I was all set to sign with MLS, the American soccer league, but I got an offer from a team here in Fiore. Strange that an American college player would be scouted by one of the big leagues huh?"

Lucy was amazed. He came all the way around the world from Florida and New Jersey to play.

"Wow. What team signed you?"

Stephen pulled out a sheet from his computer bag. "Let's see…Magnolia City."

Lucy widened her eyes. "No way. I got signed by them too! They are my dream team to play for. Oh my goodness we're gonna be teammates! "

Stephen laughed at her excitement. "Well now, if one of the top teams in this league wanted us, then we must have something they like. So what's your story?"

Lucy softened her look and looked out the window "My family life…is complicated. My dad owns one of the teams in the First Saint League, Aclyphya Town. He wanted to sign me and I didn't want to be known as the bosses' daughter. So I left after having a big fight. Thankfully my momma supported me and she gave me some money and clothes. I wanted to find my own way you know."

"Admirable. I just want to play soccer. Honestly, I was prepared to stay in America. Hone my craft a bit. Major League Soccer is a good league, but competition wise, nothing beats the European leagues."

Lucy smiled. "Well then." She put out a hand. "Welcome to Fiore, Mr. Decatur, I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship."

"Please, your friendship is all I need." Stephen said shaking her hand.

The next couple of hours the twosome discussed their live and what their hobbies were. Lucy was intrigued at Stephen's interest in history and saw his light up at exploring certain things about the country. On the flipside, Stephen was really curious about Lucy's dream to be an author if soccer didn't work out and the two bounced ideas off each other, especially with Stephen doing some writing on the side. Before they knew it, they arrived at the train station. As it was the end of the line, they took their time getting their stuff off the train.

"Let's see…the stadium should be about four blocks from the station. Stephen you alright?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." He grunted.

"You didn't have to carry my bags." Lucy said. She only had her suitcase which she rolled behind her. Stephen took her other bags.

"Lucy, your my friend and a lady shouldn't have to carry all her gear like that." He said as he hefted the bags.

Lucy smiled and turned around, only to bump into someone and fall down.

"Sorry, wasn't looking where I was going!" Lucy said looking up. She saw a young man with blonde hair with a fur jacket and black pants. Next to him was a black haired man with a black shirt and jeans.

"Well lookie here, a blonde cutie just for us." The blonde said with a cocky smirk.

Stephen having seen Lucy fall dropped the bags. When he saw the male leering at the blond girl, he immediately ran to her defense. "Buddy, Back off. I don't know who you are but where I'm from, woman are to be treated with respect. So apologize instead of ogling her."

The blond hair man looked at Stephen. "Listen foreign brat, I can kick your ass six ways to Sunday. You can have your chance."

Before Stephen could retaliate another voice joined the fray. "Sting You bastard!" Before the now named Sting could retaliate, he was sent to the ground. The new person had pink hair, a blue vest and white pants with a white scarf.

Sting wiped his lips. "Well what do you know, Natsu Dragneel of the Fairies. We were just…welcoming the two into the neighborhood. What are you going to do?

"You want to go?" Natsu called out.

"NATSU! ARE YOU PICKING A FIGHT?!"

Natsu gulped and turned to see a red haired woman in a white blouse and blue skirt. Lucy and Stephen noticed that Sting and the Black haired man froze as well.

"N-N-No, Erza! I was trying to protect this lady and her friend!"

"Good boy. You two Sabers, may I ask what you are doing?"

The black haired man shook his head. "Sorry we were walking and the two ran into us and we want an apology."

"Excuse me? You were trying to hit on Lucy here and she wasn't taking his advances well." Stephen defended.

"Sting, Rouge. Get back to the Tiger Cave." Erza said. The two members nodded and left in a hurry. Erza turned to the two unknowns. "I hope you two weren't hurt?"

"Nah, we could have handled ourselves. Who were they?"

Natsu smirked cockily. "Sting Eucliffe and Rouge Cheney of our crosstown rivals, Magnolia United. They think they are so much better than us having won two of the last four titles." Natsu looked at the two. "Sorry, I'm Natsu Dragneel.

"And I'm Erza Scarlet. May I ask who you two are?"

Lucy had hearts in her eyes. "OH WOW! ERZA SCARLET IN THE FLESH!"

Stephen looked at his friend weirdly and rolled his eyes. "Sorry, she was excited to meet her teammates, apparently meeting you overwhelmed her. I'm Stephen Decatur. This is Lucy Heartfillia."

Lucy calmed down and properly introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you Luigi." Natsu said.

"It's LUCY!" Lucy replied. "Anyway we are trying to find Mavis Memorial Stadium, we need to check in for training camp."

Natsu grinned. "Well it's your lucky day. We are part of Magnolia City. Come on, we'll take you to the apartments to get you guys settled in."

They walked towards the dorms which was up the street from the stadium. It was a Brick building that was three floors in height and had a good view of the harbor.

Erza turned to the newcomers. "Most of the team bunks here at the Magnolia City Dorms. We call it the Guild Hall. You are more than welcome to find a place in the city once you've settled in. Come on, we need to check you all in."

They opened the door and it was mad chaos. Chairs were flying everywhere and everyone seemed to be fighting. Before anyone could react, Natsu jumped into the fray and started attacking a black haired young man who had seemingly lost his clothes, yelling "I'm All fired up!"

Lucy and Stephen were stunned at the chaos. Lucy turned to Erza. "Is this normal!?"

Erza sighed. "Unfortunately, yes." She took a deep breath. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Instantly everyone stopped their fighting and they looked at Erza in fear. "You are all teammates! You should not be fighting! Now all of you clean this mess up!"

Instantly the rowdier members started the task given to them. Erza escorted the two newcomers over to the bar area.

"Mira! We have a couple of newcomers who need a room. And I need some cake please." Erza said as she sat down at the bar.

"Coming!" Called a sweet voice. Stephen's eyes widened as the now named Mira walked up to the bar. She had long white hair and blue eyes and was in a very flattering red dress and was wearing a very angelic smile.

"Damn. Erza are all the women Fiore beautiful or is it just the girls here in Magnolia City?" Stephen said as Lucy was fangirling over Mira. (Let's be honest, Lucy was in canon.)

Mira giggled. "Such a charmer. I'm Mirajane Strauss, one of the backs for Magnolia City." (I will explain everything at the bottom.)

"Really? I would have thought you were a midfielder like Erza here." Stephen pointed out.

"No, that would be my sister Lisanna. We also have Elfman, my brother, who is our goal keeper. May I ask who you are?" Mira asked.

Stephen put on his best southern gentleman smile. "I am Stephen Decatur, mam. I play forward but I can be flexible. Lucy, can you stop fangirling over Miss Strauss here and introduce yourself." He snapping the blonde out of her delusion/

Lucy blushed. "Sorry. I am Lucy Heartfillia, I am a midfielder." She said holding out her hand to Mira.

Mira tapped her chin. "It seems we have a very diverse set of players this year. Though it looks like you might be warming the bench for a while, Stephen, same with Lucy."

"Why?" Stephen asked as he was served his soda.

"We play a 4-4-2. Four Backs including me. Four midfielders including Erza and two strikers. Natsu is one of them and the other…"

At the moment the front door slammed open. In walked, a blonde man with a lightning bolt tattoo, with headphones a fur jacket and purple jeans. He walked with a superior smile and headed upstairs.

"That was Laxus Dreyer. He's the chairmen's son and he's the other striker. Lead the team in goals scored last year with 18. Dead last in team work." Mira scowled.

Stephen grinned. "Well then that's a goal to strive for making sure I became the number one striker. At Rutgers, I was one of the best in the American Athletic Conference and that league is considered one of the best college soccer conferences." He boasted.

Erza grinned. "Good. We love that confidence. But the First Saint League is a whole other level, on par with England, Spain and Germany's top tier. Now then, we should find you a room."

Natsu had walked over after cleaning up the room. "He can bunk with me! I got an extra room."

Erza smiled. "That's kind of you Natsu. Now what about Lucy here?"

She looked around and spotted a petite blue haired girl with an orange headband and matching dress reading a book. "Levy!"

The girl perked up and walked over to Erza book in arm. "What's up Erza?"

Erza motioned her head to Lucy. "I understand you have an extra room, do you mind if Lucy here bunks with you?"

"Of course, Erza." Levy said turning to Lucy. "I'm Levy Mcgardeen, I'm part of the training staff." She said with an Irish accent.

"Nice to meet you. Come on guys let's go up to our rooms." Lucy said. They headed up to the third floor and turned down the hallway. They stopped at the room labeled 310.

"This is Natsu's room, Lucy your room is down the hall. We will let you guys get settled in. Practice begins tomorrow at 9 at the stadium." Erza said as Natsu opened the door. The room while relatively clean still shown signs of being lived in. A decent size living room branched off into two rooms. There was one bathroom and a small kitchenette.

"Your room is over there. It will be nice having a roommate. I won't have to beat up like Grey. He's a fellow midfielder, unfortunately thanks to the lightning prick, he doesn't get to start as often." Natsu said.

Stephen started to pack his stuff away. "So Laxus has a personal set of players he likes to team with?" Asking over his shoulder.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah the so called Lighting Tribe. Evergreen, Bickslow and Freed Justine. Bickslow is in the back field and the other two are midfielders. With Erza, there is only one spot for midfielders and that right now is taken by Cana, the coach's daughter."

"Laxus has that much pull?" Stephen asked incredulously.

"Yeah. He's the owner's, Makarov's, grandson. We all see him as a grandfather and our coach Gildarts as a father figure. Though I've talked with the old man, if Laxus doesn't fix his attitude soon he will start subbing him and his crew out. Even if it's the first game this season, if Laxus gives him a reason, he won't be the starting striker anymore and his cronies might not have the pull to override him."

Stephen chuckled. "Well let's hope I don't have to replace him in the first game. Want to pay my dues first before going into the fire." He said as he finished unpacking. He went to the bathroom and put his medicine and toiletries in the bathroom. He felt something brush past his leg and look down. He spotted a grey furred cat with wide eyes.

"Meow."

Stephen laughed. "Cute cat. This yours Natsu?"

Natsu poked his head in the bathroom. "Oh, that's Happy! He's a real friendly cat. Got him from shelter He's only a couple of years old."

Stephen chuckled and went back to his room. Setting up his connection to his devices he turned on his Ipad and looked at the time, seeing it was 3:30 in the afternoon.

"Hey Natsu are we on Italian or Greek Time?" Stephen asked.

"Greek, I think." Natsu said with a questioning look.

"Thanks." He said and pressed the call button on his Ipad. A few moments later, a man picked up on the other end. He looked similar to Stephen but had a lighter skin than the dark skin tone Stephen had.

" _Hey Sport!_

"Hey Dad."

" _You make it into Fiore alright?"_

"Yeah already met some of my teammates. Heck I'm rooming with one of them. Hey Natsu! Get in here!"

Natsu walked into the room to see Stephen turning his Ipad around. "This is Natsu. Natsu this is my father, Hunter Decatur."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Decatur."

" _Glad to meet you too Natsu, you keep my boy out of trouble?"_

"Nah, its more likely that he'll be keeping me out of trouble."

 _"Is that Stephen?"_ A female voice called out. A woman stepped into the picture. She was Indian in ethnicity but very beautiful nonetheless, with chin length hair and red eyes.

"Hi mom. Natsu, this is my mother Nupur, Mom this my teammate Natsu Dragneel."

" _Nice to meet you Natsu. I hope you guys become friends."_

Natsu grinned. "No problem, Mrs. Decatur.

Hunter nodded. " _Alright. Well I think you must be tired from the trip. Hope you do well there. Love you."_

"Love you too Dad. Later." Stephen said and hung up. He turned to Natsu. "I had a long plane ride, so could you keep it down please?"

Natsu nodded. "No problem, don't forget practice is at 9. Oh and do you mind if Happy comes into your room?"

"Not at all. Thanks Natsu."

Stephen stretched and then went to close the blinds and quickly fell asleep from the jet lag.

Lucy and Levy's room.

The first thing Lucy noticed was that the apartment was full of books.

"Sorry about the mess Lucy. I honestly didn't know I would have a roommate." Levy said sheepishly.

"Oh that's fine. In fact I love books. If I wasn't practicing I was reading a lot. Its nice to have a fellow bibliophile (It means book lover. The Phile suffix means love or lover. Unfortunately it has negative connotations thanks to pedophiles.)

Levy grinned. "Your welcome Lu."

Just then an excited bark came out of the books. A light colored Labrador came bounding up to Lucy and sniffed her.

"Oh that's Plue. The dorm literally got him a year or so ago as our mascot. Plue this is Lucy." Levy introduced the puppy to Lucy who immediately tried to tackle her.

Lucy giggled as Plue started to lick her. "He's adorable. We'll take care of him. Isn't that right boy?" Lucy said rubbing the dog's stomach. She turned to Levy. "So what do you do?"

"I'm an equipment manager and a trainer. I make sure everyone gets the right gear and make sure it's taken care of. It may not be glamorous but it's a decent job."

Lucy nodded and started putting her stuff away. The two girls talked well into the evening before they went to bed for training the next day.

Next day, Mavis Vermillion Memorial Stadium Locker Room about 9:30

Mavis Memorial Stadium was one of the larger stadiums in the First Saint League able to hold 66,000 fans and supporters. Built in 2038 to replace the old Guild Hall stadium, its namesake comes from one of Magnolia City's greatest owners, Mavis Vermillion. Under her ownership, Magnolia City lifted the league title five times, four times in the domestic cup, the Grand Magic Cup and five times in the secondary cup, Cup of Ishgar and took them into Europe 15 times. It was a golden age for the club. Sadly, the next owner Hades Necros nearly drove the team into the ground and got the team demoted to the Fourth Tier. Makarov came on in 2033 and using a system of training team players at their academy and smarter business investments, returned the club back to the Top tier by 2042. Now the new generation of players seeks to make their mark on the First Saint League.

Stephen was finishing lacing up and was looking in the mirror. He was wearing the training uniform for Magnolia city, which consistent of a black shirt and grey pants. The uniforms they would play in wouldn't come till before the first scrimmage game later this month. The first real game that the team will play would not be the First Saint League game against newly promoted side Port Hargeon, but instead it would be the home and home series in the UEFA Champion's league against the Italian team Juventus. Stephen knew he wouldn't be playing internationally yet, so the pressure was off him to really succeed.

"Stephen? You ready to go?" Natsu called out.

"Yeah. Just need my goggles." Stephen said putting on the plastic glasses. He followed Natsu out of the men's room. At the same time Lucy had popped out of the girl's locker room in a similar uniform and her hair was tied back. Her impressive chest, while bound by a decent sports bra, was still noticeable.

"Hey guys! Ready to practice?" Lucy said enthusiastically.

The two boys nodded and they headed out onto the field where most of the team was already waiting. The two that stood out was a dark haired man with a rugged beard and a brown jacket and smaller elderly man with greying hair.

"Alright gather around!" The taller man said. The team came close and sat down on the field. "My name is Gildarts Clive. I am the coach of this here team. And the father of my lovely Cana Alberoia." He said gushing over a woman with wavy brown hair and appeared to be drunk

"FUCK YOU OLD MAN!" Said the now named Cana.

"Anyway… I have a few words before I turn it over to our boss. We are Magnolia City. We might appear to be a wild and rambunctious team to those who follow us. But I can tell you this. We are honorable and we play clean soccer. Last year, we only had to sit players due to cards five times. Though I will point out two of those were reds, Natsu, Laxus." He said.

Laxus shrugged. "Not my fault the idiot called me a homophobic slur."

Natsu snorted. "Yeah, real hard not to see it."

"Shut up pink haired bastard. You look gayer than I do." Laxus retorted.

"What was that lightning face!?"

"He's saying you look gay, flame brain!" Said a guy who some how lost his shirt

"WANT TO GO STRIPPER!"

"I am not a—SON OF A GUN, WHERE'S MY SHIRT?" The shirtless guy said and before long another brawl started.

Stephen facepalmed. "Uh, Coach Clive? Is this normal?"

Gildarts looked at Stephen. "Yeah, Grey and Natsu loved to get each other riled up, but when the chips are down they will back each other up. New guy huh? What's your name and position?"

"Stephen Decatur, Forward that can convert anywhere. Kind of had to growing up where I played. Not exactly the best pick of players in Florida outside the cities."

"Ah yes, our new American player. Nice to meet you. Is there a Lucy Heartfillia here as well?"

Lucy raised her hand. "Right here…sir?"

"Hello there pretty lady." Gildarts said grinning. "Don't mind them. Makarov will stop them in 3…2…1!"

"ALL OF YOU BRATS PIPE DOWN!" The now named Makarov yelled getting everyone to stop fighting.

"Its that type of fighting that is keeping us from getting to the top. We need discipline. I know we think we are good. But it's our behavior that's holding us back!"

Makraov held up his hand in a way that looked like a backwards L. "Discipline. Integrity. Respect. That is what it means to be a Fairy. That is what it means to Magnolia City."

Most of the team did the same backwards L and nodded. With that they all broke to do their drills.

The first thing they did was to do five laps around the field. While some of the midfielders were struggling with their breath, Stephen was able to keep up with the athletic Natsu and Laxus and even Grey. Lucy by her third lap was lagging behind though not because she was horrible. She knew she had some issues with her athleticism but this was insane.

After her fifth lap, she sat down and caught her breath. "Wow. That was intense. This team is something else."

"Here." A sweet voice said holding a Gatorade cup. Lucy looked up to see a white haired visage. At first she thought it was Mira, but her hair was a lot shorter almost to her neck, whereas Mira's was below her shoulders and was tied up.

"Thanks. Are you related to Mira?" Lucy said taking a gulp of the sports drink.

The girl giggled and sat down. "I am. I'm Lisanna, a fellow midfielder like you."

"I'm Lucy, nice to meet you."

The two watched as the forwards practiced their passing drills. Her eye caught Natsu's form as he pass played around with the ball and passed it to Stephen. Lucy blushed slightly at Natsu getting Lisanna to smile. "Natsu is pretty good isn't he? Careful, your drool might cause you to slip."

Lucy shook her head. "Sorry."

Lisanna waved it off. "Its fine." Her eye caught Stephen as he passed it back and forth with Erza. "Who's that?"

Lucy looked at where Lisanna was looking. "That's Stephen Decatur. He came from America yesterday."

Lisanna made a noise of understanding. "I see. You and him were the only ones I didn't recognize. As far as I know we haven't made any real big signings this summer."

Before Lucy could comment, Mira's voice could be heard. "Come on Sis, Lucy, we need to get your butts in gear."

The girls laughed. "Well duty calls."

After that the practice went smoothly with a couple of exceptions. During set piece practice, which were free kicks and corner kicks, Grey and Natsu got into a brawl while they were taking turns as the wall, which were designed to prevent those free kicks. The other incident occurred in a scrimmage. Laxus got into Stephen's face and actually tripped him. Stephen wasn't hurt and he just kept going which surprised his teammates. When asked why he didn't retaliate, Stephen replied, "I was taught at an early age retaliating only increases trouble. I was one of the least penalized players in high school and college." Which got him praises from the coaches and a scowl from Laxus. They went back to the scrimmage and again Laxus tripped him. This time when Stephen came back, he slide tackled Laxus and actually got him to faceplant.

"Just because I don't want to, doesn't mean I know how to retaliate. This is soccer after all." He said to the stunned crowd.

The final part of practice was one of the more anticipated ones. Gildarts had all of the players line up and face the goal at the edge of the 18 yard box. The goalkeeper was the third of the Strauss siblings. Standing at 6'2 tanned and very strong Elfman Strauss cut an imposing figure but was the definition of gentle giant. His speed belittled his size however. One by one each player took five shots. Elfman, winner of two First Saint League Golden Glove awards for best goal keeper stopped every one that had tried was stopped.. The backs were first, then the midfielders. The closest in the midfield was Erza who got a couple on the crossbar.

Lucy took her spot. She looked up at Elfman who grinned. "Don't worry Lucy. A real man won't hurt ya."

Lucy nodded and took her position. Her first kick went right into the chest. Lucy thought it hurt him but Elfman laughed.

"Don't worry about me Lucy. Just hit it as hard as you can!" Elfman encouraged.

Lucy nodded and kicked it again adding some spin. This time Elfman moved and blocked it. She set up again aimed for the top corner, only for it to slightly wide.

Lucy groaned and looked back. She saw Natsu and Stephen giving her encouraging smiles. She lined up again and this time Elfman had to push the shot away. The last shot sailed over the crossbar.

Lucy pouted and walked back to the side. Natsu wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "You did great Luce. A little more practice and you'll be kicking all sorts of ass on the field!"

Lucy blushed but smiled. After the midfielders including Lisanna took their turn it was the five signed forwards turn. Laxus, Natsu, a smaller guy named Romeo, a stern looking man named Mest, and Stephen took their shots. True to their position, their strikes were very powerful. Natsu was able to get one by on a very powerful strike to the top corner, but Laxus was able to get two in with a third one hitting the sidebar on the left."

Stephen took up his spot. As he lined up, he heard Laxus snort. "Hey New Guy!"

Stephen turned to Laxus. "I bet you 5,000 Jewels, or 500 American dollars if you can match my score or beat it."

Stephen chuckled. "If you want to lose your money so bad. Fine." Stephen held up 3 fingers. "That's how many I am going to get."

"Then I'll double it if you match your boast." Laxus retorted.

Stephen stood up and saw Elfman jumping on his heels. He took two steps and then hit it with his left foot. It curved slightly, but Elfman was able to block it. Taking a look at Stephen, Elfman noticed he was focusing on his arms.

Stephen took another step back and this time, he launched it towards Elfman's left. The ball spun and Elfman moved to block it, but the ball didn't curve when he expected it to and it ended up behind him.

Stephen nodded and got some appraising looks from his teammates. Stephen lined up the third shot and this time Elfman blocked it but it was a close thing and it bounced away.

Stephen grinned. "Your definitely no joke. I guess I need to stop holding back."

This got everyone curious as the American lined up so that his right leg was lined up to kick it.

Elfman was ready to block the shot. In a blink of an eye, the ball was behind him to his left. Everyone was stunned at the shot.

The American grinned. "I was called the Karate kid in high school, I was a black belt in that discipline. You have no idea how much training I had in my legs."

Elfman was staggered as Stephen lined up the shot. This time he didn't even try and just misdirected the goalkeeper and sent it in.

Stephen looked at Laxus. "I'll take that in cash." He said walking away with a cocky sweagger.

Gildarts grinned and walked up to Stephen. "That was some good shooting. Wasn't for Laxus here, you would be starting opening day."

Stephen nodded and went back to his teammates who praised him. One notable exception was Laxus, who stormed off in a huff, flanked by the Thunder tribe.

An hour later, when almost everyone left for the dorms, Lisanna had gone back to the locker room to fetch her sister's hair band. Fortunately, where they lived was close so she went alone. As she left with the hairband, she heard the soccer net being struck. Curious, she walked out and saw Stephen taking another shot at the net.

Looking down at her red blouse and grey skirt, she wiped off some dirt and headed out on to the pitch.

"Hey there." She called out.

Stephen turned to Lisanna. "Hey. How's it going?"

"Good. Sorry, haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Lisanna Strauss, Mira and Elfman's baby sister." She said with a smile.

"Stephen Decatur. Nice to me ya." He said with a smile taking another shot.

Lisanna looked curious. "You know practice is over right?"

"Yeah. But more practice means I get better. Dad told me that 10,000 hours is needed to get to the next level of skill. More practice equals more skill."

Lisanna nodded. "I just came to get something my sister left. Do you mind if I watch?"

Stephen smiled. "I don't mind."

Firing off a quick text to her sister, she sat down and watched Stephen shoot and mess around with the ball. Unknown to them, a small spark in their hearts formed for each other.

As Magnolia City trains, their season will begin soon. Will Magnolia City prevail? Join us as the First Saint League Kicks off next Time.

 **END OF CHAPTE**

 **UO: Alright that's the chapter, and the last update for the year. Before I sign off, I would like to do two things. One is Magnolia City's Bio and the other the structure of the story.**

 **Teams**

 **Magnolia City: Founded in in 1901. Winners of the First Saint League 6 times, The Mavis Cup 8 times and Cup of Ishgar 9 times.**

 **Home Stadium: Mavis Memorial Stadium**

 **Kits: Home: Blue with alternating white stripes and blue pants. Away: Solid red with white pants. Third kit, Black shirt with red pants.**

 **Club Emblem: The Fairy Tail guild symbol on a white shield with 6 stars surrounding the symbol.**

 **Last Season results: 3rd place**

 **Next is some terms I brought up**

 **Formation: That's how soccer teams line up their players. 4-4-2 as measured from the goal keeper are the backs or defenders, midfielders which control the ball and help pass it around and forwards which are the star players. The number 10 is typically the star player on a team.**

 **Now the structure. I know how long a season is. With twenty teams, playing each other twice, its 38 matches. I am not going to do that. Mainly because I want to show stuff other than leagues. The domestic cups and the UEFA Champion's League come to mind. I will show one match per opposing team and I have 6 I want to show twice. I will also show a couple of domestic cup matches to give other players some spotlight. A couple of Champion's league matches including one my Nee-chan might enjoy. And I might throw in the World Cup as well mixed in with some qualifiers. So At the very least it will be a fifty chapter story.**

 **Lastly how I will keep track of who wins. A standard table has eight things on it besides the name. GP, W, T, L, GF, GA, GD, and Pts. The W, T, and L are obvious. They are wins, Ties, and Loses. Three points for a win, one for a tie or draw. GF is Goals found or scored. GA is Goals Allowed and GD is Goal Difference. You subtract Goals Allowed from Goals Scored to get the difference. PTS means points. Tiebrakers are points, then Goal Difference and then goals scored. Positive is always larger than negative which can and will happen.**

 **Since I am not keeping track of other teams and not showing all the matches I will post the scores of each match I don't show at the end like so:**

 **FC Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid**

 **FC Barcelona is the home team which is always on the left and read it like regardless if the home team won or not like so:**

 **Manchester United 1-3 Liverpool**

 **In that case, Liverpool won 1-3 away at Manchester United.**

 **Whoosh that was a lot. Anyway next time this gets updated will be after Grand Prix ends.**

 **Preview: As the first game of the Domestic season begins, an injury to a key player thrusts the new guys into the spot light. Can the win their first game? Find out as the First Saint League opens.**

 **Next time: Opening Day! Hargeon Port Vs. Magnolia City**

 **Next update is 2nd Magnolia.**

 **Please Review and leave your name when you do especially if they are nice. Also check out my pals, Lalapie203, Spartan719, Code-Emperor07, Kurogane 7, Soleneus, Soulsilverlord, Vanishing Raptor, Kage Bijuu, Giratina Zero EvashinobiKaiserKnight Kamen Rider Super-fan ShadowPhantom929 and Flipkicks. I help on a lot of their works.**

 **OSPREY…SWOOSH**


	2. Opening Day! Hargeon V Magnolia City

**OSPREY…SWOOOSH**

 **UO: Hey everyone, its time for Opening Day in the First Saint League. Actor Check**

 **Natsu: (Groans) Seriously we have three stories. Can't we have a break.**

 **UO: Nope. You wouldn't want to disappoint my Nee-chan would you?**

 **Lucy: Natsu just relax alright?**

 **Erza: Do I hear complaining?**

 **Natsu: NO!**

 **Lisanna: Honestly Natsu, just try to stay out of trouble**

 **Stephen: Uh Sir? Is this normal?**

 **UO: No sir here Stephen. Do you prefer it normally or like Steven?**

 **Stephen: Steven please.**

 **UO: Alright, Steven. Mind doing the disclaimer before something happens?**

 **Steve: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. If he did ALL THE COUPLES WOULD BE TOGETHER BY NOW! You know the ones.**

 **UO: Thank you, On with the show.**

Normal text: Speaking or normal talking

' _Quotes and Italics': Thoughts_

 **Bold: Yelling**

Underline: Location and Time in match

Person's name followed by a colon: In-game announcer

Chapter 2: Opening Day! Port Hargeon V. Magnolia City

Friday August 29th, 2069 about 11AM

When we last left the Magnolia City soccer team, they had started their practice for the upcoming regular season of the First Saint League. Between the beginning of the month and now, the main team had competed in the Playoff round of the UEFA Champion's league against the Italian Team Juventus. In the home and home series, Magnolia City won 4-1 on Aggregate, with a 2-1 win in Italy and a 2-0 win at home. The group draw was held earlier in the week and they got what many observers were calling the Group of Death. They got the Spanish Champion FC Barcelona, The Runner-up from England Arsenal and the 3rd place German Team Wolsburg. To make matters worse is that two of their first three games were on road, the lone exception being their second game against Wolfsburg and they were already counting them out against some of the heavy hitters of Europe.

But that wasn't the priority at the moment for the team. Tomorrow was the start of their domestic league, The First Saint League. They would not start at home, but rather away against Port Hargeon, one of the newly promoted sides, along with Polaris FC and Karasu FC.

Sitting in the video room, coach Gildarts was showing the team, starters and reserves alike what to expect from the team.

"Port Hargeon is one of the three promoted sides this year. They finished 5th in the Second Saint League, but won the promotion tournament to join winners Karasu FC and Polaris. The Midshipmen operate under a 4-3-2-1 formation, the Christmas Tree formation with the focus on their striker Bora.

Bora's stats came up. "He scored 25 goals last year, 3rd most in the 2SL. He is tricky but most of the rest of the team is average. Keep pressure on him and we can succeed. Last thing, our starting line-up for this week. Our fans are eager to know the opening day line-up." Gildarts grinned.

Lucy and Stephen perked up from their spots next to each other. They knew they had no chance to be named starters even though they thought they did well in their scrimmage games. Being named as a reserve could mean they could play soon.

"Alright our formation is 4-4-2. Our goalkeeper is Elfman Strauss. Next our backfield, Right back is Alzack Connell."

They turned to their right to see a dark haired man who had his hair covering one eye, wearing an orange shirt and blue jeans.

"Right Center Back is Mirajane Strauss, Left Center Back is Gajeel Redfox."

Turning towards the wall, they saw a messy black haired man with red eyes and dressed in a dark blue jeans.

"Left Back is Bickslow."

The mentioned man laughed and stuck out his tongue. He had blue hair and was dreed in blue jeans and a purple shirt.

"In the midfield, we have on the Right side, Cana. Right Center Midfield will be Freed Justine."

The green haired man nodded. He was dressed in a red shirt and blue jeans. From their interactions, Lucy and Stephen found him the more tolerable of the so-called Thunder God Tribe, he was at least courteous to them, unlike Bicklow who Natsu nearly tore his head off for leering at Lucy."

"Left Center Midfield and captain is Erza Scarlet and Left Midfield is Evergreen."

The snobbish woman just adjusted her glasses. She was in a low cut green dress and she had a ridiculous amount of make up for a soccer player.

"And our forwards will be Natsu and Laxus. Now our reserves. Our back-up goal keeper is Jet."

A brown haired main in a ponytail nodded. He was in a yellowed shirt and grey shorts.

"Back up defenders are Droy and Macao Conbolt."

A black haired man next to Droy smiled while an older gentlemen with dark hair wearing a white shirt and grey jeans sitting next to presumably his son who was wearing a red vest and green shorts.

"Reserve Midfielders are Lisanna, Lucy and Grey."

Lucy smiled at the white haired girl while Drew congratulated them as Gildarts read off the back up strikers.

"Stephen Decatur and Mest Gryder, you will be the back-up forwards."

Stephen smiled and looked towards the scarred man who nodded with a smile.

"Alright then, we rest tomorrow, bus leaves at 9AM, for the two hour bus ride. Game is 1PM. Dismissed."

The team dismissed to do their own thing. Stephen went back to his room and grabbed his wallet and phone. Natsu was not far behind and was curious at what he was doing.

"What's going on? You got somewhere to be?"

Stephen looked at his roommate. "Yeah, I got to go shopping. Keep your bottomless pit fed. Also, I kind of need food and also my toiletries. With our current wages, I should be able to get something good tonight. Want to come? Lunch is on me?"

"Can we bring Lucy and Lisanna?"

"Sure, they probably need stuff too." Stephen replied.

Firing off a quick text, the foursome met up at the front of the team dorms, Lucy in the clothes she wore when she met Stephen and Lisanna in a green and white dress. They headed towards the market that was not far from the dorms. Being a harbor town, the fish, whatever they could find was really fresh. Though the Mediterranean was spared some of the eco-destruction that hit the Atlantic and the Pacific, it was still in recovery from what happened decades before.

"Oh nice. Shrimp, 1,000 jewels a pound. 10 American dollars pretty good deal there. There we go some good looking fruit as well."

Lisanna watched with fascination as he hovered over the fish products. He planned on making some lamb and shrimp and considering the stomachs, he was going to buy a lot.

"You seem to be excited over the food." Lisanna giggled.

"It helps when your father shares your appetite. I learned how to cook from him, considering my mother can't eat certain foods." Stephen pointed out.

"Allergies?" Lisanna inquired.

"No religion." He replied. "Dad is an American through and through. Mom though is the daughter of two Indian immigrants. Being Hindu, they consider cows sacred so no beef for her. She also can't eat pork, so more often than not Dad had to make separate meals."

"What about you?" Lisanna pressed.

"We were raised in a mixed heritage household. Dad always told me to follow what we believe. We aren't that religious but we respect my mom's customs."

Lisanna was surprised at Stephen saying he was Indian-American. Looking at him a little more closely, his skin was a bit darker than normal."

"If you look at my extended family, I pretty much epitomize being an American. My dad's side has a lot of Western European influence, French and British mostly. Mom's extended family includes Bulgarian and Iranian. We try to balance everything, sometimes Dad's holidays because they are so few and far between get lost in the shuffle."

Lisanna nodded as he went through the aisle and got some more food, snacks mostly and stuff like shampoo and soap. When they got to the spice aisle, Stephen turned to Lisanna. "How spicy does Natsu like his food? I can handle a lot."

Lisanna immediately went for the Mango Habanaro and Sweet Thai Chili sauce. "Combine this and your close. But I don't want to burn my mouth. Medium sauce will be fine tonight."

Stephen nodded and put all three in the basket. Then they had to find the other couple in the store. After a few moments they found Lucy trying to get Natsu to not eat what she bought.

"But Luce. I'm Hungry!"

"Natsu we are going to get Lunch after this!"

Natsu pouted which got giggles out of the store clerk working the meat counter. "Such a cute couple, her have this on the house."

Lucy sputtered. "W-w-what? We aren't a couple!"

"A pity. You're an adorable couple."

Lucy stomped off in mortification as Natsu chased after her.

"Luce, what's wrong?" Lucy turned to Natsu ready to tear into him, but her anger melted at the his confused look. She didn't want to admit it, be he looked like a child with that look. An incredibly sexy and hot child.

"Nothing Natsu, some people are being stupid at the moment. Just forget it alright. We are almost done here and we can go get some lunch, okay?"

Natsu smiled and grinned as he helped Lucy finish their shopping and helped carry the groceries to the dorm.

A few hours later, after spending the day looking at the town, Stephen was behind the stove sizzling up some Lamb steaks and shrimp along with some vegetables. Lucy, Lisanna and Levy were in the living room talking with each other while Natsu was hovering in the kitchen.

"Natsu calm down, if you want to help, keep your cat from sniping the shrimp." He ordered as the grey colored cat tried to swipe the shrimp again.

"Happy, go bother Lucy or Lisanna." Stephen pointed to the girls.

The cat meowed and walked over to Lucy. Lucy giggled and picked up him, the cat proceeded to nuzzle into her large chest. Lisanna saw this and smiled. "I've never seen Happy react to a stranger like this. When we got him last year, he would not react to anyone except Natsu or me."

Lucy was puzzled by this and looked at the adorable kitten. "He might be a trouble maker but are you sure he hates everyone."

"Yes, because that damn cat always scratches me when I get close." Said a male voice coming from the door. Everyone turned to see two figures, Erza and a black haired man who for some reason was down to his boxer shorts.

"Well stripper maybe because I knows that your stripping habit is evil!"

"I do not have-SHIT! WHERE DID MY SHIRT GO!"

"Grey go put on your clothes there are ladies present." Erza ordered.

The now named Grey immediately went left the room and came back dressed.

"Can I ask what you two are doing, Captain Scarlett?" Stephen asked.

Erza took a seat at the table. "We were walking back to our dorms when we smelled the cooking. We didn't think Natsu was capable of not burning down a kitchen."

"One time when I was ten and I never live it down." Natsu growled.

"It was three, including ours Natsu," Lisanna deadpanned getting him to pout.

"Anyway, we smelled the dinner and thought to come in. Who knew our new striker could cook?"

"Thank my dad for that, considering the amount of food we had to prepare on a regular basis. I made plenty, have a seat."

Grey and Erza proceeded to do that and Stephen laid the food down. Before they could dig in, Stephen held up his hands.

"If you don't mind, I would like to say grace. Can you take each other's hands?"

The others at the table nodded and by sheer coincidence, Lisanna held Stephen's left hand, Natsu held his right and Lucy held his left, getting the blonde to blush.

"Dear heavenly father, we are to partake in what I hope is many meals together. Bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies and our bodies to our service, and bless our season as we play our first game on Saturday. In your son's name we pray, Amen."

They broke the hold and started to eat. Erza and Grey took a bit of the lamb and they widened their eyes.

"Holy cow Stephen this is really good!" Grey announced.

"You can give Mira a run for her money." Erza replied take a bite into the rest of the food.

Stephen smiled. "Glad you all like it, sorry about the spices."

Grey waved it off. "Its fine, its actually pretty good. Flame Brain normally douses his in hot sauce."

"It's because you can't handle the heat Stripper."

"What was that Flame Brain?"

Before they could start another brawl, Stephen slammed the table. "Don't fight at the dinner table. I don't care, this is my domain don't you dare ruin it."

The two boys gulped and muttered something about a Male Erza getting the girls to giggle. After the dinner was done and dessert was served, Erza and Grey left to head back to their rooms. Levy, Lisanna and Lucy left soon after and the two boys were left to clean up.

"So you grew up with most of the dorm?"

"Yeah. We grew up in the same town and went to similar schools. We impressed gramps enough to offer our families to sign us to the academy. They should show up when we play Southtown next week. That's one of the things that separates most of the clubs here in Fiore. Heck, you and Lucy are probably the first two signings our age. Must have been special to get you two."

"Yeah. Lucy is definitely special. She's been doing great in practice. Hope she's on the main roster soon. Same to you as well."

Stephen chuckled. "I'm sure she's special Natsu." He said with a teasing smirk.

Natsu was oblivious as they finished cleaning up. Stephen headed towards his room and then stopped.

"What about Lisanna?"

Natsu looked confused. "What about her? She's been a great friend and sister to me."

Unknown to Natsu, Stephen smiled in his head. "I just want to know about her. Considering most of you grew up together."

"Oh. Well, she is an animal lover. She likes to volunteer at the animal shelter. That's how she found Happy. She's also a sweet girl. Even if she wasn't Mira's little sister, being one of the youngest here she's the little sister everyone wanted. If someone broke her heart, well they wouldn't find the body."

Stephen shuddered. "Good to know. I'll be online for a while. Good night." He said.

Natsu oblivious to his thoughts just shrugged and went into his room to watch T.V."

August 30th, 7AM Fiore Time

The alarm blaring in his room shook Stephen out of his sleep. Rubbing his eyes and sitting up he yawned tiredly. His anxiety over today kept him from getting him more sleep but he had gone on less sleep before. He walked towards the window to see the sun starting to rise out of the Magnolia sky.

"Perfect day for a match." He mumbled to himself. There was a knocking on his door.

"Hey Stephen, better get ready. Bus leaves at 9, Erza will be on our ass if we are late." Natsu called out."

"Yeah, yeah." Stephen called out. He picked up the outfit he was going to wear on the bus. A blue and grey stripped shirt and khakis. He then headed towards the bathroom to clean himself up. Stepping out of the bathroom and heading back towards his room, he grabbed his gear and his Ipod. Flipping through his music, he pressed play and smiled as the opening bars to Ozzie Osborne's Crazy Train started to play.

Following Natsu, the roommates headed outside, gear in hand to see they weren't the first there. Lisanna dressed in a red blouse and tan skirt, her siblings Mira in a long red dress and Elfman in a blue blazer and matching pants and Lucy in her grey skirt, leggings, and blue blouse were waiting for them.

"Hey guys. Where's everyone else?" Stephen asked.

"Erza is rounding everyone up. Mira wanted to make sure everything is packed and also Natsu takes his medicine."

"Medicine?" Lucy asked perplexed.

"Yeah, for some reason Natsu and Gajeel get motion sick, so they need these patches to at least sedate them." Mira said slapping it onto Natsu. "Now you two get on. Natsu is going to be up front, the rest of you in the back. Sorry starter's privilege."

The three reserves shrugged and hopped on. They all got a row next to each other and Stephen put his earplugs back in and fell asleep. Lisanna watched him sleep and smiled then turned to Lucy next to her.

"You excited?" The white haired girl asked Lucy.

"Yes and a little nervous. I mean this is the opening game."

"Oh you'll be fine. Just be ready to support our team." Lisanna assured her.

Lucy smiled. Lisanna was such a sweet girl. The last couple of weeks have been great between the two. Hopefully their success won't make them enemies in the future. The two continued to talk as the rest of their bus was loaded up. At nine on the dot, the buses left towards Hargeon.

Hargeon Port Stadium, 12:30PM

Stephen took a deep breath as he put his music away, wearing Fairy Tail's road uniform. It was solid red, with white pants and stripped socks, the club's shield on his left shoulder. He took off his glasses and put his sports glasses on.

"Alright, bench players we need you out on the field." Erza called out from the divider. With the league being co-ed, each locker room had men's and women's areas that was separated by a divider.

"Okay then. Time to be a bench warmer." Stephen said as he stood up. He walked by Natsu, who grinned and held up his fist. Stephen looked at it and chuckled and pounded it. The American walked into the tunnel and met up with the girls to walk out together. A short walk through the tunnel and they were on the pitch. Compared to Mavis Memorial, it was a small stadium, a max capacity of 27,000, all of them occupied. Only the Mermaid Scale stadium, Mermaid's Cove was smaller and that was by design. It still had four stands, with gaps between the four stands. They were located on the West End of the stadium, with their supporters in the North End. Taking a seat, the three players were surprised to see their boss here.

"Mr. Dreyer? What are you doing here?" Stephen asked.

Makarov grinned. "I love watching my brats play. Every game, I am able I try to be down on the field. Supposed to inspire loyalty."

Lucy understood that. Back on her dad's team, he rarely visited the players on the pitch.

Makarov heard the music change. "We have ten minutes before game time, they are coming out soon.

The bench players nodded and watched as the stadium finished its pre-season festivities.

Commentary Booth (Unlike Grand Prix there won't be separation between the commentators and the game.)

Up in the commentary booth, the cameras and commentators were getting ready for their broadcast. The play by play announcer was a middle aged man with a black hair that looked like a wig and black suit and red tie The color man was a blonde man with blue eyes a red shirt and khakis.. This was Jason Thompson and Chapati Lola.

Chapati: Good Day Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to the first day of the Carnival First Saint League. I am Chapati Lola, alongside former Fiore team defender Jason Thompson. What a great first day of action across the league. (Multiple cameras are shown showing the various matches across the league.) The Match of the Day of course is FC Crocus visiting Tenrou Island. But the match here is quite interesting as newly promoted Port Hargeon hosts last year's 3rd place side and Champion's League qualifier, Magnolia City. Jason when one thinks of Magnolia City, most think of their academy and this year's batch seems like something special.

Jason: That's right, we of course have the famous Thunder God Tribe in starting striker Laxus Dreyer along with the two midfielders Evergreen, Freed Justine and Left Back Bickslow. But the other starting striker is Natsu Dragneel. (Camera shows his face.) He is a standout striker that has gotten a lot of attention around the league. It's telling that their acquisitions in the offseason are on the bench to start this year. The owner of Magnolia City, Makarov Dreyer hopes to see more of the academy players in the near future.

Chapati: Switching gears. Port Hargeon won the promotion tournament last year. What do you think of their prospects?

Jason: With the level of skill I don't see them doing as well as in second tier but with some of the mainstays trending down, we will see where they stand around Christmas. Especially with Bora as their lead striker.

Chapati: We will see. Now then we head for the tunnel walk. The First Saint League is unique in that each team has their own tunnel. This allows for the home team to walk out with their own entrance music. Magnolia City will walkout first and then Port Hargeon will enter to the tune of Ozzie Osborne.

In the tunnels, the two team's captains stood in front of their teams. Each player was holding the hand of a youth member of their respective supporters. Erza looked straight ahead as she waited for her cue to walk forward. Looking back at her team, they all nodded with the exception of Laxus who just scoffed. Erza sighed and then started to walk out. Exiting the tunnel, they were met with polite applause as they took the pitch. Lining up on their side of the field, the grouped together to take their team photograph.

The familiar bars of Ozzie Osborne's hit Crazy Train started to play and the crowd picked up in energy. The home team walking through smoke appeared waving to the crowd. In front of them was their captain Bora, in their home uniforms, which consisted of blue stripped shirt and black pants.

After their photograph, the two teams approached and shook hands, their captains in front and their goalkeepers behind him. Bora a charming smile as he tried to woo Erza but she was not biting. The four referees , the main ref, two sideline refs and timekeeping ref walked up.

"Alright you two. I want a clean game." The lead ref said. He pulled out a coin. "This is who gets to start the game with the ball." He flipped it over to show each side. "Magnolia City you're the visitors, you call it."

"Tails." Erza said.

The coin flip landed heads giving Port Hargeon the ball first. The two captains shook hands and went back

Commentators

Chapati: The captains meet in the middle for the coin flip. They shake hands and they head back to their sides.

Jason: The air is charged as the season is seconds away from starting.

Magnolia City spread out. Surrounding the circle was Natsu, Evergreen, Laxus and Erza while Elfman went into goal.

The ref looked at his watch and then at his assistants and nodded to them. He held up his whistle and then blew the whistle.

Port Hargeon 0-0 Magnolia City (When there is a goal I will update the score and the time it took place)

Chamati: And here we go. Gerald takes the ball, passes it to Bora. Bora takes it he's being defended by Dragneel. Bora passes it and is intercepted by Dreyer and heading the other way.

Laxus took the ball with Erza and Natsu trailing him. Instead of dumping to them he took a long range shot that sailed wide.

Chamati: Dreyer takes a shot and sails wide for Goal Kick.

Jason: Dreyer is eager to score early to set the tone.

The Hargeon goalkeeper kicked it back into play. Cana was where the ball was going to be put in play. She reached up and caught it with her chest. Her opponent reached elbowed her in the chest. The ref saw it and called a free kick. Cana took it and sent towards Evergreen who took steps and passed it to Laxus. But the attack was stopped by the far side ref, who indicated Laxus was offside.

Stephen growled. "Ever should have seen Natsu was not offside. Makarov, why exactly are you letting her do this.

Makarov sighed. "Look, Evergreen has proven with her skill to be a starter. But like with everything, if you don't play like a team, its going to bite you."

Natsu was echoing his statements. "What the hell Ever?"

"I thought he was onside!" Evergreen growled.

Those within earshot shook their heads as they continued playing.

This was the case for the next 20 or so minutes. Hargeon would take it in and try to get a shot off but either the defensive line would hold or Elfman would block or catch it and the defense would kick it away. When Magnolia City had the ball it was a battle between two sides. Erza, Natsu and Cana would do great together passing it between them whenever possible and they were able to get shots on goal. But when they got it to Evergreen or Freed, they tried to pass it up to Laxus. Half the time he was covered and the other half he took a poor shot. The one time he did get a shot on the goal, it was called back because he passed it to Erza who was offside.

All of this was grating on the nerves of the bench players. Stephen actually stood up and walked over to Gildarts. "Sir, can I get out and stretch. I'm kind of antsy."

Gildarts looked at him. "Alright. But take someone with you."

Stephen nodded and walked over to Lucy. "Hey Lucy I need to stretch out a bit, want to take a walk?"

Lucy smiled. "Sure. Be back soon Lisanna."

The white haired girl nodded and the two started to jog around the bench.

Meanwhile it was about 35 minutes in and Elfman just knocked the ball away, resulting in a corner for Hargeon from his left. Almost all of the players were crowded in the box waiting for the shot.

The midfielder lined up and fired a shot. Bora got away from Erza and Mira and jumped to head the ball. The ball sailed passed Elfman who was concentrating on the two people in front and slammed the ground and started yelling at the Midfielders for letting the ball by like that.

Commentary Booth

Chamati: Skar lining up for the corner. He sends it into the box. Bora Breaks FREE! AND HEADS IT IN! HARGEON IS UP 1-0 ON LAST YEAR'S THIRD PLACE TEAM!

Jason: A breakdown in communication in the box lets Bora break loose and a Beautiful finish by the Midshipmen striker. And the crowd is energized

Port Hargeon 1-0 Magnolia City

Bora (36') (A/N 36th Minute)

Laxus and Natsu went back to midfield and started play again now with a bit more energy considering they were down 1.

The attacking continued for the next nine minutes but it seemed to cool off as it approached half time.

When it reached Extra time however, disaster struck. As Laxus was setting up for one more shot, one of the defenders charged at him and hit him instead of the ball. He fell down and felt a pop in his thigh.

Laxus widened his eyes and immediately grabbed his leg. If there was one thing about Magnolia City is they rarely dove and they played hurt. For someone like Laxus to be keeling over in pain, it was really serious.

Commentators

Chamati: A big challenge for Hargeon and Laxus goes down. Ref immediately goes into the pocket and it's a red card. Hargeon will be playing the second half with ten players and Magnolia City will be without their lead striker for the forseeable future.

Jason: That was a clear takedown to Laxus and for a big man to crumble like that, he is in agony. The ref mercifully ends the half with the score 1-0 in favor of Hargeon.

Magnolia City went into the locker room slightly depressed as Laxus was looked over by the medical staff. One of the doctors turned to Gildarts. "He pulled his hamstring. Best guess three weeks before he could put pressure on it."

Gildarts sighed and leaned back. He now had a choice to make. Mest was a good striker and had leadership qualities, but he was older, among the oldest men on the roster at 34. Stephen at age 21 had room to grow, but he already got some of the team to take a liking to each other. He made a choice that would have huge long-term consequences.

"Decatur! Go warm-up," Gildarts barked to the male side of the locker room.

Stephen who was drinking a cup of energy drink, choked on his cup. "What?"

"You heard me! Go Warm-up in the tunnel, Laxus won't be playing today!"

Stephen quickly nodded and headed into the tunnel. As Gildarts started to discuss possible plans, Freed walked up to him.

"Your replacing Laxus with the Rookie? Are you nuts Gildarts?"

Gildarts stared angrily at the midfielder. "I am not nuts! I put him in because I need offense and no offense to Mest, I think Decatur will be a good way to drum up offense. And with your attitude I might replace you too. Both you and Evergreen are on thin ice as it is. So shut up and get ready for the 2nd Half!

Freed seeing he was not going to win the argument with the coach did what he asked. Gildarts then motioned for Levy to go inform the fourth ref of the change.

15 minutes later, the teams retook the field. Stephen stood next to the fourth ref as he put his number in.

Commentary

Chamati: The teams retake the field and we get to see who will replace Dreyer. It's the American signee, 20 year old Stephen Decatur. According to his profile, he was an All-American at Rutgers University in the state of New Jersey.

Jason: College is one thing, but this is the Carnival First Saint League, it is a whole different animal. But being a 1st team anything is a good achievement. The board is up and Stephen takes the pitch next to his roommate Dragneel.

In: #24 Stephen Decatur

Out: #11 Laxus Dreyer

Stephen lined up on the ball next to Natsu waiting for the ref to signal the start of the half. When the whistle blew, Stephen's presence was immediately felt. Not even two minutes into the half he already had a shot off that was pushed away. When Hargeon counter attacked, Stephen was right there disrupting the plays. For the next ten minutes, he was all over the pitch and he even set up a couple of shots for Natsu and Erza only for them to get blocked.

At about the 67 minute mark, Stephen set up another shot, this time towards Evergreen. The brunette seeing the pass instead of putting up some effort to go after it, pulled up and allowed one of the opposing backs to kick it away.

Gildarts had seen enough and turned to the bench. "Heartfillia! Warm-up! Your going in for Evergreen!"

Lucy widened her eyes and immediately went to warm up.

Commentary Booth

Chamati: Magnolia City bench seeing some activity. It looks like Lucy Heartfillia, the other signee is coming on, question is who coach Clive is going to replace.

Jason: I think it might be one of the wings, his daughter Albeornia or Evergreen. As Stephen goes in for another shot and it is pushed away. The ball goes out of bounds for a corner and now the question is who Heartfillia is replacing as Hargeon also prepares to sub one of their players as well.

Hargeon subbed one of their midfielders. Then Lucy's number came up green and Evergreen's came up red

In: #7 Lucy Heartfillia

Out: #17 Evergreen

When Evergreen saw the board, she was stunned then livid. The ref motioned for her to leave. She grumbled as she headed towards the sidelines. Lucy held up her hand to tag in and Evergreen only put up her hand to tag out with no enthisasum. The brunette stormed off to the locker room in a huff.

Lucy meanwhile headed over to the penalty box to jockey for the ball that was about to be put in play.

Stephen was lined up for the kick on the goal keeper's right. He held up his hand and then launched it towards the box. The ball sailed towards a couple of the Hargeon players. They bounced off the head of one and the players were jockeying for as it hovered in the air. The ball bounced of another player's chest and ended up bouncing towards Lucy. She caught it with her chest and let the ball drop. She took a big swing with her leg and struck the ball. The ball found a gap in the crowd of players and the ball found the back of the net.

Commentary

Chamati: Decatur takes the corner. He's been everywhere today, he's a bundle of energy. Decatur hits into the box. Crowd of people scrambling. Ball goes to Heartfillia outside the box. She winds up, Fires, AND FINDS A HOLE AND IN! LUCY HEARTFILLIA HAS COME OFF THE BENCH AND ON HER FIRST SHOT HAS THE GOAL OF THE WEEK! 1-1 With about 20 minutes left to play!

Jason: (Multiple angles of the shot are shown) This goal was all about being in the right place at the right time. It looked to me like Decatur was looking for either Scarlet or Dragneel. The ball took a lucky bounce and Lucy was right there.

(Camera shifts over to Gildarts who pumped his fist when the goal was scored.) That is one happy coach and the supporters

On the pitch, the moment Lucy scored she was just as surprised as the commentators. That didn't stop Natsu from running up and hugging her. Erza was over there as well and hugged them both. Breaking the hug, they headed back towards midfield. Stephen ran over and wrapped an arm around her.

"That was a great shot Lucy!"

Lucy smiled. "Thanks, now let's see if we can get score another one and go home happy."

Stephen nodded and lined up outside the circle.

Port Hargeon 1-1 Magnolia City

Bora (36') Heartfillia (70')

After that goal, Hargeon began to press their attack a bit more but Magnolia's defense was stout. Stephen's energy seem to fade away a bit, but his burst of energy was enough to make him the target of increased attention. As the clock wound down, it looked to be heading towards a draw.

Commentators

Chamati: Full time is approaching and it's a matter of how much injury time is needed.

Jason: And it looks like 3 minutes will be added on. Can either side push for that game-winner.

Stephen looked up at the clock and saw it almost up. He watched as the ball went out of bounds and it was their ball near their goal. Lucy picked it up.

"Lucy, I got it." He said taking the ball. "Just get upfield."

Lucy nodded and Stephen tossed it towards Erza. Seeing the plan, she kicked it back to Stephen who used his last burst of energy and ran he got up to the midfield line and hit towards Lucy. Making sure she was onside she controlled it and glanced over her shoulder to see Natsu making a break for the goal. Timing it right, she kicked it forward. Natsu was behind a defender when she kicked and broke away from the defender. The ball bounced once and Natsu caught up to it. The goalkeeper came out to stop him, but some quick footwork, he beat him. With the open net in front of him, he tapped it and was already celebrating the goal. Stephen and Lucy were the first ones there to hug him as the supporters cheered.

Commentators

Chamati: Decatur to take the ball out. Tosses it to Scarlet, back to Decatur. He makes a break, gets covered. Dumps it to Heartfillia! This could be the last play of the game! Heartfillia launches it downfield. Dragneel makes a break! Flag is Down! One man to beat! Around the Keeper AND IN! A Magnificent Play by the Fire Dragon! Magnolia City is up 2-1 As the final minutes tick down!

Jason: This whole play started when Decatur took the ball. He wanted the better scorers down the field when he came back in. And they planned it beautifully. A great job by all.

Port Hargeon 1-2 Magnolia City

Bora (36') Heartfillia (70')

Dragneel (90'+3)

Hargeon tried to attack again but with one last defensive stand, the ref blew the whistle and ended the game. The Magnolia City bench was jubilant while Hargeon looked dejected. Magnolia City may celebrate today. But the season is just beginning. What trials and tribulations will happen to our Magnolia City team? Find out as the First Saint League begins.

 **End of Chapter**

 **UO: Took its sweet time getting out. Now unlike Bleach Grand Prix I will only post the scores of each week and I will post the standings every five or so games I show. So here is the week one scores.**

 **Magnolia United 3-1 Aclpyha Town**

 **Port Hargeon 1-2 Magnolia City**

 **Cerberus FC 0-1 AFC Babylon**

 **Mermaid Scale 1-2 FC Bosco**

 **Oracieon Seis 1-0 Oshibana Town**

 **FC Crocus 0-0 Tenrou Island**

 **Real Crocus 1-1 Real Veronica**

 **Southtown Wolves 0-2 Oak Town**

 **Polaris FC 1-2 AFC Alverex**

 **Pegasus FC 0-1 AFC Black Cube**

 **Team Spotlight:**

 **Port Hargeon**

 **Founded: 1910**

 **Stadium: Hargeon Harbor Field (Capacity 27,000)**

 **Badge: An Anchor surrounded by a Kraken**

 **Previous Year's placement: 5** **th** **(Promoted from 2** **nd** **Saint League)**

 **Kits: Home: Black and white shorts. Away: Blue and red shorts**

 **History: Founded before WW1 this club prior to 2060 had never been higher than 5** **th** **Saint League. Thanks to investment and good players they finally reached the pinnacle of Fiore Soccer.**

 **Chapter Preview: With their first win out of the way, the team prepares for their first home game. But bad blood seems to be coming from the Thunder God tribe, will they still play? Find out next time**

 **Next time: Home opener: Magnolia City Vs. Southtown Wolves.**

 **Next update is Nakama United**

 **Please Review and leave your name when you do especially if they are nice. Also check out my pals, Lalapie203, Spartan719, Code-Emperor07, Kurogane 7, Soleneus, Soulsilverlord, Vanishing Raptor, Kage Bijuu, Giratina Zero EvashinobiKaiserKnight Kamen Rider Super-fan ShadowPhantom929 and Flipkicks. I help on a lot of their works.**

 **OSPREY…SWOOSH**


	3. First Home Game

**OSPREY…SWOOSH**

 **UO: Alright after some delays and inspiration from Copa America Centerannio (Go USA we have a good thing going, stupid Argentina.) And the Finals of UEFA Euro 2016, let's get this next chapter of this bad boy down. (Sees the pitch) As soon as SOMEONE FIXES THE FIELD!**

 **Natsu: (Gulps) Damn, he found out.**

 **UO: What?"**

 **Natsu: Uh…one of our brawls happened here. Me, Ice Lips, Erza…**

 **UO: I get it. Stephen where are you?**

 **Stephen: Here, sorry I was working on something.**

 **UO: Its fine. Can you do the disclaimer?**

 **Stephen: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own Fairy Tail or Soccer or League of Legends. He only owns the plot and his OC's**

 **UO: Thank you, let's play**

Normal text: Speaking or normal talking

 _"_ _Quotes and Italics: Phone Conversation_

' _Apostrophe and Italics': Thoughts_

 **Bold: Yelling**

Underline: Location and Time in match

Person's name followed by a colon: In-game announcer

Chapter 3: First Home Game: Magnolia City V. Southtown Wolves

On the way back to Magnolia, 4PM

In the first match of the Magnolia City season, the Fairies were able to defeat their first opponent Port Hargeon, thanks to the efforts of Natsu, Lucy and Stephen. The two newcomers had come in as a substitute for Laxus, who gone down due to injury and Evergreen, who was pulled due to her behavior during the game. The final result was a 2-1 win and a place in 3rd for the moment in the standings.

The team had packed up and left Hargeon Port Stadium after talking to the media. They had especially wanted to talk to Natsu and Coach Clive, the player about his game winning goal, the coach about his interesting sub choices.

Now on the bus, everyone could finally relax a bit. Stephen especially after the amount of running he did. Lisanna noticed him struggling to breathe. "Stephen are you alright?"

"Yeah…just a…flare-up of asthma. Went too hard,"

The white haired girl shook her head. "That's an understatement. Can you survive the ride?"

"Possibly. But I have an…emergency inhaler with…the doctors," He gasped.

Lisanna nodded and waved to her sister. "Mira, can you ask the doctors for Stephen's inhaler?"

Mira immediately went to the team doctors and grabbed a small blue tube. She handed it to Stephen who took a couple of puffs of in. His breathing noticeably calmed down after a couple of moments.

"Feeling better?" Mira asked sweetly.

"Yeah, glad that this got approved by the Guilds of Fiore Association.. Otherwise, I might have trouble with drug offenses," Stephen replied.

"Has this come before?" Lisanna asked as Mira walked away assured of his health.

"Yes. A couple of high school drug tests came back for a drug that supposedly was banned. I was able to prove that I had a prescription for it. In order to avoid the suspensions and get approval from the Association, I had to agree not to take the medicine until either the game was over or I was subbed out. My asthma got better, so the issue became less of a problem in college. Next time I won't push as hard."

"Eager to prove yourself?" Lisanna giggled.

"Yeah. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to sleep," Stephen said as he leaned against the window. Lisanna watched him sleep with a small smile and turned to see Lucy sitting across the aisle.

"How about that goal? You two set it up beautifully," the blue-eyed girl gushed.

Lucy smiled sheepishly. "It was pretty lucky that it fell into my lap. I can't believe I scored our first goal of the season. I would have thought it would have gone to someone else."

Lisanna giggled. "Don't sell yourself short, what you and Stephen did was pretty cool today."

The blonde's smile brightened at the compliment. Just then Natsu walked up and hugged Lucy getting her to blush. "You did awesome Luce!"

"Luce?" She asked.

"Yeah, you need a nickname. So Luce it is!"

The blonde shook her head and futilely tried to shove him off. When the bus started moving, Natsu groaned and laid in the blonde's lap getting her blush to darken.

Lisanna saw her discomfort. "Don't worry, he likes to cuddle on someone's lap on rides back from games. More often than not he's either on a seat himself, or Erza's lap. You can rub his hair to make him feel better."

Lucy nodded and started to rub his surprisingly soft locks. She thought it would be sweat-drenched due to the amount of running they did. Natsu groaned and nuzzled into her lap more getting her to giggle. After a few minutes, she drifted off to sleep as well.

Two hours later, the bus returned to the dorms. The first person of the bus was Laxus. His leg was wrapped up and was being helped to his dorm. He was hiding it under a scowl, but he was in a lot of pain. After he was helped inside, everyone else climbed out and headed to their rooms to shower.

In Natsu and Stephen's room, the American was the first one in the shower. The water felt great on his skin and smiled as he thought about the game today. A few moments later, he walked out of the shower to see Natsu munching on some left overs.

"What?" He asked curiously.

Stephen shook his head and went into his room and turned on the computer. Logging onto facebook, he went to his page and started his comments.

" _Shout out to MGC winning 2-1 today. First win of hopefully many. Special shout out to teammates Lucy Heartfillia and Natsu Dragneel winning it for us._

Once he posted on Facebook and Twitter, he immediately opened up a game on his desktop. It was the app for League of Legends. When he wasn't playing soccer, Stephen was playing one of the world's largest esports, League of Legend as a Top Laner, or a tank.

"Let's see. Oh new patch out. Worlds are just around the corner. Let's see who got in." He quickly looked up the League table. "Oh nice, TSM, Counter Logic and Immortals from the US. G2, FC Schalke and Fanatic from Europe. Korea's got SKT, KT and Rox. China has RNG, WE and Snake. Taiwan has Ahq and the Yoe Flash Wolves. And the Wild Card teams are Brazil and…Japan. Wow, nice. Alright, let's see who got nerfed and buffed."

A few minutes of checking the champions and a bite to eat from some of the leftovers he had and he was on the Rift as they would say. As he was queuing up, Natsu had finished his shower and peaked his head into the room. "Yo, Steve I'm grab a bite downstairs. Want to come?"

"No, I just had some leftovers. I just queued up here." A notification told him he was in. "Scratch that I just got in. And…yes Top lane for me. So who's going to be banned now?"

Natsu looked confused. "Uh, what are you playing?"

Stephen looked at Natsu. "Oh, League of Legends. One of the largest Esports games in the world. You are on a team of 5 fighting against another team and you try to take their base via special moves and your minions."

Natsu looked a little intrigued. "You think you can put it on a screen for me to watch?"

Stephen looked at his computer. "Let's see…" After a few moments, he had rigged up a link between computer and his t.v screen and the pink haired striker watched as he went through his character select and talking to the other players. Stephen ended up picking a character that reminded her of a more regal looking Erza named Fiora. Then he got into the game. At first, Natsu thought it was a bit boring, considering he's never seen these so called Esports. But as the game wore on, he saw that Stephen's skill with the character was really good as he had picked up multiple kills and helped assist in others. The game ended with his team taking the so-called nexus.

"GG guys, time to queue up again," Stephen said as he saved his replay. He turned to his roommate. "What do you think?"

"That was pretty cool, how did you find this?" Natsu wondered.

"Simple. I wanted something to keep my mind engaged and a friend on my high school team introduced it to me and I picked it up. I could never go pro, but I can do pretty well," Stephen explained. "Esports have been growing in the last decade. Four teams in North America have teams backed by celebrities. FC Schalke, the German club, have a team in the European league that's going to the worlds. It's a big deal."

Natsu widened his eyes in wonder. Before he could say anything, a knock on their door caught their attention.

"It's open!" Natsu called out. The door opened to reveal Lucy. "Natsu, are you in here?" Lucy asked.

"We're in Stephen's room!" Natsu called out. The blonde came into the room to reveal Lucy in a long t-shirt and blue short shorts.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Watching Stephen play this…League of Champions," Natsu replied

"Legends, get it right," Stephen growled. "I like to play it in my off time and I am quite good at it. Not Pro level, cause I focus on soccer, but I can hold my own."

Lucy walked to Stephen's bed and sat next to Natsu getting the striker to blush at the proximity.

"Alright…now I'm in…and great Mid lane, I would rather be support," he grumbled.

"Why?" Lucy asked.

"Midlaners tend to be mages, which are not my forte. Supports are either good at taking damage or providing stat boosts. Oh…you know what?" He said as it was his turn to pick. He selected a brunette champion. "Tayliah has been good lately. Surprised it wasn't banned."

Lucy was confused as the game began and watched as Stephen played another game. Natsu tried his best to explain what he was doing but it left her more confused until she watched it more thoroughly. Throughout the game, Natsu had nudging closer to Lucy as he cheered teammate on. After the 40 minute game, in which Stephen pulled out another victory, he decided to log off. He turned around and saw the two close to each other.

"Something I should know about?" Stephen asked with amusement. The two noticed how close they were and broke away from each other blushing.

"I think my fair maiden this is where you say good night," He teased.

"Right…G-good night Steven, g-g-good night Natsu," Lucy stuttered as she walked out of the room.

Stephen looked at his roommate. "You guys are so easy. Anyway, I'm going to bed early."

Natsu nodded and went to his room. Outside their dorm, Lucy was laying against the door, her heart pounding like mad.

' _What is making my heart go nuts like this? Natsu?'_ At that, she thought her chest would burst. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her heart down. Once at a reasonable level, she went back to her room and fell into a surprisingly full sleep.

Next Day; About 11AM

With the game being yesterday, the team was given Sunday off. Stephen was using this to play League of Legends. Natsu was already downstairs probably causing chaos, and Happy found a spot on his bed.

"God damn, rough match," He grumbled as his team surrendered. He sighed, thinking of heading out to grab some food. A knock on the door caught his attention. He groaned, thinking it was Natsu forgetting something.

"Natsu! Did you forget your keys…again?" He trailed off as he opened the door to reveal the younger Strauss sister. "Lisanna…hey there." He waved.

"Hey Stephen. How's it going?"

"Uh…nothing really, just getting ready to get some lunch. What's up?"

Lisanna smiled and leaned against the door frame. "Nothing, just Natsu and Lucy were talking about this game you were playing last night. League of Legends was it?"

"Yeah, I was playing it. It's a way to keep my mind focused after a game like what happened," he chuckled sheepishly.

Lisanna giggled, to Stephen's ears it sounded like a bell. "Guess we all have our thing I suppose. Can you show me?"

Here Stephen widened his eyes. "Uh, sure. Can we do it after Lunch?"

"Sure, want some company?" She asked.

Stephen nodded after a few moments of hesitation. The two were able to sneak out of the dorms and headed out towards a small pub near the stadium. It wasn't a date, but two people having a nice outing as they found out about each other as teammates. It was during the lunch that Lisanna's phone rang. She looked at and her features paled.

"Who is it?" Stephen asked.

"Mira!" She hissed, getting Stephen to gulp. Lisanna answered the phone. "Uh, hey sis."

 _"_ _Young Lady…Where Are you? I haven't seen you since you went upstairs!"_

"Mira, I'm fine. I'm with Stephen.

Lisanna could hear the change in Mira's tone. " _Oh? Is my baby sister on a date with the handsome foreigner?"_

"Mira!" Lisanna whined.

" _Oh don't worry about your little date. Just one more pairing for our team."_

"Love you sis," Lisanna sighed as she hung up. She looked at Stephen. "Sorry, Mira loves to pair us up. So you are now drawn into the pairing madness and thus be ready to be teased.

Stephen shook his head. "Great."

The two paid for their meal and headed back to their dorms with dreams of future outings like this

Monday September 1st, 2069 about 11:00 AM

Makarov was not in the best of moods as he read the reports in front of him. His grandson Laxus had just gotten evaluated and the results were worse than he feared. He had a grade 1 pull in his hamstring. Even the best rehab would take him out for three months well into the Champion's league group stage and clearly ruled him out of the qualifiers for the World Cup. This wasn't bad, it was a near disaster.

He looked at Gildarts. "Laxus is going to be out till November with this torn hamstring. Who should replace him?"

The coach rubbed his chin. "Personally, I think Mest should get the call to start. My gut is telling me to start Decatur."

Makarov hummed. "Many teams would be prepared for a physically stronger striker not someone who can burst for speed like that. But that will also create a rift with the Thunder Tribe."

"Bah, you and I both know we've been wanting an excuse to bench at least Evergreen and Bicklsow. I want Ever benched for Heartfillia or Fullbuster."

"Grey would have some trouble with Natsu, despite Erza being on the same line as him," Makarov said as they wrote in the line-ups. After a few moments, Makarov sighed. "How about having him on the same side with Decatur. Have it Erza, Heartfillia, Fullbuster and Cana."

Gildarts rubbed his chin. "It sounds good, but I feel something is still off. But this is the Southtown Wolves, I don't think we need to worry so much about a good line-up. However, I am concerned about Oak Town at the beginning of October. We have to visit them after we go to Barcelona. Fortunately, we were able to push that game to a Monday night.

Makarov closed his eyes in thought. Gildarts was right. Champion's League would start the week after they played Oshibanna Town on Saturday. It was their luck that they had to go play Arsenal in London and then FC Barcelona in Barcelona for their first two games. Arsenal would be on the 16th, allowing for their home game against FC Crocus, scheduled for the 20th to be played normally. The Barcelona game would be different. It would be on the 24th and then they would have to play one of the top teams from last season, Oak Town that Monday. Chances were though they would have to start some of their bench players against Crocus and hope their best players would be ready to go against both Arsenal and Barcelona.

This would be the first of what he believed would be many games that would be rescheduled due to other tournaments. The Cup of Ishgar scheduled for the week after the Oak Town game was one such tournament. Based on England's EFL Cup consisting of the top 60 clubs, the 54 clubs in the top 3 divisions, the 3 relegated clubs from the previous season's 3rd tier and 3 playoff clubs in the 4th tier, it was considered a more exclusive title to the FFA cup, which consisted of 10 tiers of clubs. As a team that qualified for Europe, they were allowed to skip the first two rounds which would whittle the field down to 27, where the 5 clubs that qualified for Europe would enter. Then they would play five single elimination games against random opponents across the tiers over the next two months till it got to the final at the Domous Fleu, the Fiore National stadium and the home of Real Crocus. As the first cup of the year, it was a big deal for some of the lower tier clubs to get it. For the upper tiers though, this was a cup where they would rest their best players and have some of their younger players get some experience.

"It seems we need to do a lot of shuffling over the next few weeks. But for now, Heartfillia and Fullbuster will start this week. Have both Evergreen and Freed on the bench. Warn Bickslow not to get out of line."

Gildarts nodded. "Will do. I hope we have a good season this year."

Makrov smiled and dismissed the coach to go inspect the players practicing.

Thursday, September 4th about 1PM

Coach Clive has called the team in to talk about their next opponent. He saw the team had started to gel, especially the two newcomers. He spotted Stephen talking to Natsu about something and Lisanna being quite interested in it. Lucy was laughing at something Mira had said and Levy was laughing along with her.

"Alright guys, let's get down to business." Gildarts ordered. A few moments of shuffling around later and their attention was fully on the coach.

"Good. Now then, we are facing the Southtown Wolves. They were the 16th ranked team last year."

He pulled up a chart showing their formation. "Typically they do a 4-4-2, focusing their attack on the Vanish brothers."

He pulled up the profiles of the two brothers. One was a giant with spiked up hair, while the other was shorter and bald save for a long rat tail behind him.

"They are good forwards, however they rely too much on them, the only reason they didn't relegated was they didn't suck at the right moments. The Older brother Maven is a great set piece taker while the younger brother Jarven is pure power. Anyway, onto the line-ups. Because Laxus is out for the foreseeable future we are changing the lines quite a bit.. Goal keeper is still Elfman, Back line is still Alzack, Gajeel Mira, and Bickslow. Mid field is the biggest change. Cana is still right Midfielder, Right Center Midfielder is Grey Fullbuster."

Grey beamed and high fived Natsu while Freed noticeably frowned.

"Erza is still captain and Left Center Midfield. Left Midfield is Lucy Heartfillia.

Lucy pumped her fist while Natsu patted her shoulder. Evergreen stood up. "What the hell Coach Clive!? Why am I benched for the upstart?" She growled getting Lucy to shrink.

"That upstart did more for us in the first game than what you did. If you didn't notice, she came in and bam we have two goals."

Evergreen growled and sat down. Gildarts continued. "Strikers are Dragneel and Decatur. Those who are being replaced are on the bench this game. Any relevant questions?"

When there were none, he dismissed them telling them they have the day off tomorrow to prepare for the game.

As they headed out of the dorms, a little girl was seen running towards the group.

"Daddy!" The little girl was wearing a pink shirt, white shorts and wore a cowboy hat. She ran up to Alzack who grinned and scooped her up.

"Asuka, hey there little scamp, where's your mother?" He asked kissing his cheek.

"Asuka darling don't go running off like that," A young woman said. She was wearing a blue sundress and a yellow hat. Alzack beamed as he approached his wife. Stephen turned to Natsu who grinned. "That's Bisca Connell, Alzack's wife and Asuka his kid. Bisca and he were the original anchors for the back line before she became pregnant and decided to be a housewife."

Stephen nodded at that, understanding their life choices. Natsu's ears perked up and turned to see three people. There was an older looking Natsu with light red hair and business suit. The older woman had sky blue hair and a young girl in twin ponytails a green dress.

"Pops, Mom, Wendy!" Natsu ran over to the three and embraced them. "What are you guys doing here, game ain't till Saturday."

Natsu's father chuckled. "Yes, well we wanted to be here before Wendy started school."

Natsu turned to Stephen and Lucy who had walked up. "Stephen, Luce, these are my parents, Igneel and Grandeeny and my little sister Wendy. Guys, this is my roommate Stephen and my teammate Lucy."

Grandeeny took one look at Lucy and gushed. "Oh wow! Who knew our little boy has such a pretty girlfriend!"

Both of them blushed. "Mom~~! We're not dating!" Natsu snapped.

"Yes Mrs. Dragneel, we aren't dating yet!" Lucy sputtered.

The older woman waved them off and turned to Stephen. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Decatur," She said in surprising English.

"You speak English quite well, Mrs. Dragneel," Stephen replied.

"I learned it in college and I am glad I can understand you so well. How's Fiore treating you?"

"Good thank you for asking." He replied. He turned his attention to the young girl. "Hello there Wendy."

The blue girl blushed. "Hello, its very nice to meet you," She said bowing.

Stephen smiled and glanced over to see Natsu and Igneel seemingly getting into another argument. "I guess this is normal?"

"Yes. Don't worry though" Grandeeny said as she walked over to the two and pinched their ears. "You two are such children."

The two moaned as the family headed out of the stadium. Stephen turned to Lucy. "Families, am I right?"

"Yeah." She replied. She looked away at the thought of her family. Stephen noticed this but decided not to push it and headed back to his room.

Saturday, September 6th, 12:30PM Fiore Time, Half hour before kick off

Stephen was sitting next to his locker. He was dressed in the Magnolia City home uniform, a blue and white stripped top and blue shorts and socks. He took a deep breath. "Alright, first home game It's not so bad, not like we have other games."

"You alright?" Natsu asked snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, just a little nervous about performing for our home crowd," Stephen admitted.

The salmon-haired boy grinned. "You'll be fine. Magnolia City is one of the nicer fanbases. Save for when we play United and Karasu. Even our rivalry with Alverez is tempered a bit in recent years. After what happened last week, they will warm up to ya. You'll be fine."

Stephen smiled. Just then, Lisanna showed up dressed the same but with an orange bib over it. "Good luck you two," She encouraged and hugged the two strikers, hugging the American a bit longer. "You're going to do great!" She released the hugs and headed onto the field.

Stephen watched her walk out to the field with a smile. Natsu grinned. "Alright! I'm fired up! Come on Steve!"

Steve sighed and sat up. He headed towards the gender-neutral area between the lockers. Coach Clive had gathered everyone around. "Alright, this is the first home game of the season. The fans are stoked, the weather is great, and we have a win. Let's get out there and kick some ass! Who Are We?!"

"MAGNOLIA CITY!" The team shouted. After the cheer, they headed into the tunnel to get ready to enter the field.

Commentary Booth

Chamati: Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentleman and welcome to the beautiful Mavis Memorial Stadium, here in the Fairy Tail section of Magnolia. Week 2 of the Carnival Saint League is underway. Our match of the week is over in Sun City where Oracion Seis is playing AFC Black Cube for an early match in the middle of the table. But here we have the first home game for Fairies of Magnolia City and the Southtown Wolves. I am Chapatti Lola. With me is Jason Thompson. Jason, Magnolia City opened quite well with a 2-1 win over Port Hargeon, but it proved costly as their starting striker Laxus Dreyer is out for the foreseeable future.

Jason: A hamstring injury no matter how severe will keep you out of action for weeks or even months. As a result, Coach Clive has decided on the rookie American Stephen Decatur as the replacement striker. In addition, two other changes have been made due to what the coach has said are behavioral issues. Right Center Midfielder is Grey Fullbuster replacing Freed Justine and left wing midfielder is one of the heroes last week Lucy Heartfillia replacing Evergreen.

Chamati: Do you think they can do well going forward?

Jason: Possibly. They have Oshibanna Town next week while no pushover shouldn't challenge them. The real test is at the end of the month when European competition starts. They have Arsenal in London, FC Crocus at home, then FC Barcelona in Spain and then Oak Town in that order. If they win two of the matches with this line-up it will be amazing.. But we will see, I have some confidence that these guys will pull off something special.

Chamati: Switching gears, the Southtown Wolves have struggled to maintain their spot in the First Saint League the last couple of years, akin to England's Aston Villia. They are led by the Vanish Brothers up front.

Jason: Yes they seem to have a lot of power up front but the midfield seems to be quite weak especially with the speed and energy of the strikers and the midfield. But if they make enough plays they could manage a draw.

Chamati: That they do. Ladies and Gentleman, we here at the Carnival Saint League have a unique tradition. Every team is allowed their own entrance style much like the NFL in the U.S. Perhaps one of the most iconic ones is the one for Magnolia City. We now take you to the stadium for Magnolia City's entrance.

At the stadium, there was 10 minutes before kickoff and the atmosphere was tense as Southown Wolves had taken the field. On the big screen, the screen changed to a news bulletin which seemed to wake up the crowd.

" _Dateline Magnolia, Fiore May 1920. Mavis Vermillion, the founder of Magnolia City has done something extraordinary. She has made their club co-ed and has signed their first female player Yuri Dreyer When asked why, she had this to say._

 _"_ _Magnolia City was founded because there needed to be a symbol of hope in this section of the city. When I proposed this to the Fiore Federation, they were interested but they weren't ready to make the full transition. But they allowed us to do so to see if it was possible_

 _(Begin the opening bars for Where the Streets have no name by U2 album version.)_

 _My motto for this club was no matter the creed, no matter the gender, no matter the ethnicity, no matter the religion, if you seek it, you will always find a home here at Fairy Tail."_

 _"_ _Why Fairy Tail? Why not somewhere more prominent?"_

 _Here Mavis gave a smile that seemed to light up the whole stadium. She spun around and spread her arms._

 _"_ _Do Fairies have tails? Our ancestors asked that same question when they founded this city. Maybe, maybe not. But its an adventure to find out, much like I predict soccer will be!"_

At the last word, the music picked up and showed a brief montage of all the Magnolia City teams. Until it got to the team for this year. It then cut to the tunnel, where all the players were facing away save for Erza the team captain. At a given signal, she ran down the tunnel, clapping her teammate's hands. They followed in synch as they sprinted down the tunnel passed the walls of their previous champions and their trophies. The vocals picked up as they approached the tunnel entrance. Erza slowed down and climbed up the stairs, each player in step. Once at the top of the stairs, they took their youth members hand and walked out onto the field as the chorus and the crowd sang the chorus.

"And now entering the field. Your 2069-2070 Magnolia City Soccer team!"

The crowd's energy reached a fever pitch as the starters entered the field. Stephen who was near the tail end of the line had to laugh. Lucy glanced over to him when they stopped at midfield. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because I love this song. As Natsu here would say, I'm Fired Up!"

The song reached its crescendo as the teams shook hands and Erza meet in the middle for the coin toss. The toss went in the home team's favor and Erza accepted the ball first. The song faded away but the crowd was still cheering very loudly as the game was set up. Natsu was standing on the ball with Stephen next to him. The ref looked at his watch and then blew the whistle to start the game/

Magnolia City 0-0 Southtown Wolves

Chamati: Magnolia starts with the ball. Scarlet takes it and brings it up field. Dumps it to Fullbuster goes wide and out of bounds. Wolves take it. Schmidt throws it in to Larue. Passes it to Maven who takes it shot from about 30 yards out but Connell deflects it away.

Jason: The Wolves are looking to make a statement early. But Magnolia City is right there to answer.

The next 15 minutes was a feeling out period as the game slowed down. The Wolves had limited chances to get into the back line while Magnolia City was able to pressure the midfield.

At about the 20 minute mark, Maven got a chance to take it further into Magnolia's half. Gray seeing the attack went after him and slide tackled into him. Maven flipped and landed on his back. The ref blew his whistle and marched over to Grey. He held up a yellow car which got the midfielder mad and tried to argue with the ref.

Booth

Chamati: Maven heading up the field, Fullbuster challenges and the striker goes down. That's a foul and…it's a yellow for Fullbuster.

Jason: Magnolia City is known for discipline and this was a good challenge by Fullbuster but he got too much of the leg and now Magnolia City is in a dangerous position with Maven about 25 yards out. He's scored 10 goals from set pieces last season.

On the field, the ref marched ten yards and took out a spray bottle and sprayed a line in front of Alzack and Gajeel, who stood shoulder to shoulder. Behind them, most of the Magnolia team was lining up in a wall as well, with Elfman calling the shots.

"Move over a couple of feet Lucy. Stephen, Erza squeeze together. That's it!"

The wall was in place and Maven lined up the shot. At the whistle, he reared up and fired. The wall that contained Mira, Stephen and Erza blocked it and Cana immediately cleared it out.

Booth

Chamati: Great wall by Magnolia City

Jason: Maven tried to get it over the wall with strength. Unfortunately, they did this to one of the taller teams in the league, average height of 5'9.

After the free kick, Magnolia City seemed to regain the momentum and pressed their attack. Stephen took a shot in the 32nd minute that went wide, while Natsu tried two minutes later that was blocked. It seemed like it was only a matter of time before City found the back of the net.

It was in the 42nd minute when that opportunity came under an unlikely circumstances. The goalkeeper for the Wolves had just knocked over the goal for a corner. Lucy decided to take the kick this time. Lining up, she sent it into the box. Jarven saw the ball and attempted to head it out. Instead of deflecting it away, the ball hit the side that was facing the goal. The keeper didn't react fast enough as the ball found the back of the net. There was some confusion on the side of the Wolves, but the moment Natsu saw the ball in goal he kicked off a celebration.

Booth

Chamati: Heartfillia setting up the shot. She takes it, sends it into the box and it bounces around AND IN! The Wolves looked stunned as Magnolia City celebrates their lead. 1-0 for City.

Jason: (Replays begin) I…think this was an Own Goal. There was some scrambling in the box. Jarven reaches up and it's off his head. An own goal by their power striker and a near disaster for the Wolves.

Magnolia City 1-0 Southtown Wolves

Jarven 43' (OG)

The teams reset and the Wolves were content in keep the deficit at 1 and were thankful for the halftime whistle.

In the Magnolia City locker room, the mood was positive. Coach Clive smiled. "Alright guys, you've done great, shame we haven't converted opportunities."

"Damn right we haven't converted, that shot I took was worse than FSU wide rights," Stephen moaned. "Long story," He said at the questioning looks.

Gildarts nodded and turned to Grey. "That challenge you did, what happened?"

"Don't know, I went after the ball hard. I swear he dove," He moaned.

"Alright. Be really careful alright. If we think you're going to get into trouble we will pull ya. Alright, get yourselves refreshed and let's keep up the pressure. You're doing great."

Gildarts left the group and the team talked tactics and other business.

After 15 minutes, the teams were called back onto the field. With \no changes for either side, the half started with the Vanish brothers taking the ball and trying to get another shot in. But now with their strategy figured out, their attack was more muted. Magnolia City continued to press into the attacking half. Fouls were given to both sides but there were no yellows as both sides weren't willing to take risks.

It wasn't till the 68th minutes that something significant happened. Magnolia City had gotten towards the 18 yards box. Erza had the ball outside the box and lifted it towards Stephen. Still smarting from the own goal, Jarven tried to prevent him from getting the ball. He reached out his hand to drag him down, however the ball hit his hand at the same time. Stephen saw this and motioned with his hands what he did. The ref did indeed see it and motioned to a spot in the box while pulling out the yellow card.

Booth

Chamati: Scarlet takes it in. Shifts left, lofts it towards Decatur and Jarven does a hand ball! Magnolia City is motioning to the ref and he is pointing to the spot! Penalty Shot for City! Yellow Card for Jarven! An unmitigated disaster for the Wolves!

Jason: He was trying to prevent Decatur from getting a good shot off and potentially he was offside but it doesn't matter. It's a penalty for City and the crowd is loving this. Question who is going to take the shot.

Erza had called together Stephen, Lucy and Natsu. "Who wants to take it?"

"Let me Erza. That shot should have been mine!" Stephen immediately raised his hand.

Seeing the other two nod, Erza smiled. "Very well, good luck!"

Stephen approached the ref and motioned for the penalty spot. The ref nodded and handed him the ball. He approached the spot and set the ball down. Looking at the goalkeeper, he observed him moving casually as if to taunt him. The American smirked as he backed up and then shifted slightly to his left. At the ref's whistle he took two steps and then struck it hard. The keeper had no chance as he dove one way and it went the other way. Stephen was already celebrating as it went in. Natsu and Lucy were the first on him as he slid on the grass and played an air guitar to the delight of the crowd.

Booth

Chamati: Decatur to take it. The crowd is really backing him. (Whistle) He goes, hits it and IN! His first goal in the First Saint League might be the dagger for the game. Look at him all excited and whipping up the crowd.

Magnolia City 2-0 Southtown Wolves

Jarven 43' (OG)

Decatur 70' (P)

After his celebration, the teams reset and the Wolves seemed to deflate after that goal. Twenty minutes and stoppage time later and City had their first home win of the season as they defeated the Wolves 2-0.

Two games in and Magnolia City is doing great. But their season is only beginning. What will happen as the season moves on? Find out on First Saint League.

 **END OF CHAPTER**

 **UO: Okay not as bad this time**

 **Teams**

 **Southtown Wolves: Founded in 1910, they have never spent more than five seasons in top tier.**

 **Kit colors: Home: Black and red stripes. Away: Yellow and grey**

 **Shield: Southern Wolves guild symbol**

 **Preview: The next game against Oshibanna Town is full of intrigue especially with many of the recent additions. Can Magnolia City defeat the Reaper?**

 **Next time: Facing the Reaper: Oshibana Town V. Magnolia City**

 **Next update will be Nakama United. Also in regards to this story after the Oshibanna chapter I am going to start jumping around. Cause the next game I want to do is a Champion's League game**

 **Please Review Kindly. Also check out my pals, Lalapie203, Spartan719, Code-Emperor07, Kurogane 7, Soleneus, Soulsilverlord, Vanishing Raptor, Kage Bijuu, Giratina Zero EvashinobiKaiserKnight Kamen Rider Super-Fan and NorthSouthGorem. I help on a lot of their works. Also call me out on mistakes.**

 **One last thing, I have a Forum to discuss future ideas. Its on the Writer's United Forum under UnitedOsprey1991 ideas and discussions.**

 **OSPREY...SWOOOSH**


	4. Facing the Reaper: Oshibanna vs Magnolia

**OSPREY…SWOOSH**

 **UO: Well the studio is wrecked and the 2** **nd** **Magnolia set is ruined for the foreseeable future. So let's get this one of the ground for a couple of chapters.**

 **Lucy: Yay! No more feeling useless!**

 **Grey: No Deaths in this one.**

 **Natsu: Let's do this! (Let's out a giant fireball)**

 **UO: I just got the fire system installed and its tuned to your magic.**

 **(Fire is extinguished.)**

 **UO: Not this time. (Explosion is heard.) God damn it. (Sees Erza attacking Brock) OH COME ON! Brock what the heck?**

 **Brock: I didn't do anything. I was commenting on how she looked in her uniform.**

 **UO: Ugh. Disclaimer Now!**

 **Lisanna:** **UnitedOsprey1991 does not own Fairy Tail or Soccer or League of Legends. He only owns the plot and his OC's**

 **UO: Thank you, let's play**

Normal text: Speaking or normal talking

 _"Quotes and Italics: Phone Conversation_

' _Apostrophe and Italics': Thoughts_

 **Bold: Yelling**

Underline: Location and Time in match 

Person's name followed by a colon: In-game announcer

Chapter 4: Facing the Reaper: Oshibanna Town Vs Magnolia City

Sunday September 7, 2060 about 9:00 AM

When we last left the First Saint League, Magnolia City was able to win their first home against the Southtown Wolves. Stephen had scored one of the goals and had started to become quite popular with the Magnolia City Fandom. But the league was still young and they are about enter a tough stretch of games. So some people are taking advantage of every rest period they could get.

Stephen was one such person as he stretched out his limbs. "Damn, yesterday was fun." He rubbed his legs. "Though I could deal without having to make my legs feel like jello. He rolled out of bed and went to take his shower. A few minutes later, he left the bathroom dressed in a blue t-shirt and black shorts. He immediately sat down and logged onto League of Legends.

"Alright, let's see what we can do today. Maybe I can also do Overwatch, Blizzcon's coming up. Oh yeah, got to talk to dad about shipping my recording equipment." He loaded into his file and queued up. A few moments later he was in the game selecting his champion when he heard a knock on the door. "Damn it." He stood up and walked over to the door. "Can I…Lisanna?" The boy asked surprised. Indeed it was the youngest Strauss sibling, dressed in a light blue shirt and grey shorts. "Uh, hello Lisanna."

"Hey, didn't think to see you up this early," she said smiling.

"Nah, I'm up cause I want to take advantage of the day off for my hobby. Come on in, excuse the mess," He opened up the door to let the girl in. He marched over to Natsu's door and knocked on it. "Hey knucklehead, wake up, we got company!" He said as he marched back into his room. Moments later, Natsu groggily stepped out. He saw Lisanna and sobered up. "Oh hey Lis."

"Hey there. Just thought I say hello. I wanted to hang out with Stephen today."

Natsu grunted and went to the shower. Lisanna went into Stephen's room, to see him typing something.

"Oh good, Kennan is available, should I get him or should I get…Nautilus. Kennan it is, lock it in."

Lisanna sat on the bed. "So this is League of Legends. I don't quite understand this game, never really got into video games.

Stephen was setting it up so that she could watch. "Yeah, well gaming has been my stress relief and my way to escape from being a soccer player. Your more than welcome to watch. Shame I don't have a reliable way to record anything."

"Recording?" She asked.

"Yeah, I record games I play and then put them on Youtube. I also stream them, which is why I want my recording equipment. When you don't make as much money as say an NFL player, you need some way to help with expenses. I nearly got in trouble with the NCAA because of that. Some archaic rule about making money because I was on scholarship. Was able to prove that because I didn't make money playing my sport, I was not liable to be suspended and that go the ball rolling on fixing that rule. Anyway, game is on, I'll try to explain as I go."

Lisanna sat back on the bed and watched as he explained some of the mechanics as best he could. She understood it was a team game and the role he played was to take damage while roam around killing some of the smaller creatures and then targeting the enemy champions before eventually going after the other teams base. It seemed simple but as the match wore on it became clear there was not a lot teamwork involved in this particular match, at least early on. Eventually, Steve managed to rally his team and get some lucky strikes in and they finally pushed towards the base. In 33 minutes, Steve racked up 12 kills with 7 assists and 4 deaths which for his team was about a third of the total kills.

"And that's GG. Man that was exhausting." He looked over at Lisanna. "So that's basically it, it's a team orientated game. The best players in the world compete against each other not unlike real sports teams. This game's World Championship is gonna be in Germany, England and Spain, top prize of about $6 Million. I know the Dota 4 championship had like 120 Million dollar prize pool for the International 60 last month.

Lisanna widened her eyes, $6 million was a lot of money even for a mid-tier soccer player. And 120 Million prize pool for playing esports? That was insane.

"Well I can say that our schedule would allow me to see most of that tournament and at a decent time. Anyway gonna queue up again, you want to pick my champ?"

Lisanna blinked her eyes. "You would let me do that?"

"Yeah, knock yourself out. We all choose a ban and then we choose a champion. Let me do the ban." He looked at the list and seeing a particular champion up, he immediately clicked it. "Sorry, Nidalee. And if that was your pick, someone else was gonna ban it," Stephen explained to Lisanna's confusion. "She's too good in the jungle and the constant buffs and nerfs seem to not affect her." The white haired girl nodded as the rest of the bans came down. When it came to his pick he turned around. "Alright, I'm the Top laner, so I'm looking for people that have staying power and don't need to rely on the others." He started to scroll through the champions.

Lisanna watched the pictures scroll past. Many of them looked strong or cool. As he got to the T's, she spotted one. "That one, the one with the bronze helmet. She reminds me of Erza."

Stephen looked. "Quinn? Hm…Well she got buffed a patch or two ago, might see some play in Worlds. Alright, let's go!" He pressed lock in and Lisanna suddenly felt really excited for the game. She sat back and gently grabbed one of Stephen's pillows to watch him play.

Meanwhile, Natsu, not content with staying in the room, decided to head out of the room. He decided to go see if Lucy was available. Said blonde was taking a nice bath, the warm waters soothing her aching legs.

"Man, the last two weeks have been tough. But they've been amazing. I can't believe I actually scored a goal already. Everyone's being nice to me and so have the fans," She softly said stretching her arms getting her breasts to bounce in the water. "And then there's Natsu," She blushed at the thoughts. She quickly shook her head of the thoughts. "So what if he's cute, he's still an idiot. An adorable idiot…GAHHH!" She sighed and was about to lean back when she heard the door. She groaned. "Levy, did you forget something. She climbed out of the tub and wrapped a fluffy blanket around her well-endowed chest. She walked to the door to tell Levy off only to see Natsu at the door. Both froze at the site of each other, Lucy seeing Natsu at the door and Natsu seeing, Lucy in a towel. Said towel slowly slid off and fell to the floor. Fortunately for Lucy's sake the floor was unoccupied.

Natsu gulped and turned red at the sight of Lucy's naked body. Lucy noticed this and looked down. Screeching in surprise she slapped Natsu and slammed the door after grabbing her towel.

"Ow, Luce. I'm sorry," He moaned sliding next to the door.

"What are you doing here?" She yelled through the door covering herself instinctively.

"I just wanted to hang out. Stephen is playing his games and I get bored easily. Come on, Lucy."

Lucy blushed, her heart pounding as she slid down to the floor. "I wouldn't mind that, but you kind of caught be off guard."

"Sorry Lucy."

She had to giggle. "It's fine. If you want to hang out, give me like thirty minutes okay?"

"Alright."

Lucy stood up. "Oh, and if you tell anyone what you saw, Magnolia City will be looking for a new striker."

Natsu gulped. "Um…can I say that you looked great?"

Lucy's sputtering gave him the confidence to leave to dash to his room. A half hour later, Lucy knocked on his door. The pink haired man opened the door to see Lucy in an Orange top and blue skirt.

"Ready to go?" She asked sweetly.

"Yeah, I'm all fired up! Later Steve!"

"Later Natsu, hi/bye Lucy!" He called out.

The two waved to the concentrating gamer and headed out to their date. Three hours later, as Stephen was playing another round and Lisanna was cleaning the room when the door knocked again. The blue eyed girl walked up to the door and opened it to reveal her sister Mira.

"Hey sis, how's it going?"

"Oh. I just came here to see how Stephen was doing, where is he?"

"God damn it, stupid Rengar!" Said striker's voice cursed. Curious, Mira looked in his room to see him rubbing his eyes. "Great, should we surrender? I guess so. Ugh, I need a break." He looked and saw his defender teammate. "Hey Mira."

"So you've been spending all morning playing video games. That seems a little unhealthy for you," she told him crossly.

"Well excuse me, Ms. Strauss for doing something I like on my down time and I can spend it the way I want."

Mira shook her head. "Such a waste of time. You could be going out and exploring the city."

"Quite sure Natsu and Lucy are doing that right now. Besides, people do make money off this," Stephen retaliated.

Mira raised an eyebrow. "Really? I find that hard to believe."

"A 120 Million dollar prize pool for one of the biggest tournaments of the year, says it's pretty good. And that's American money. Also, some of the so called real sports teams have bought into this game."

"Name three I might give you the point," She challenged.

Stephen didn't even bat an eye. "In Europe, I know FC Schalke 04, one of the German Champion's League qualifiers and along with the French Champion PSG, have teams in the European LCS. In North America, I know two basketball teams own them, the 76ers and the Bucks and I also know a couple of former legends have teams, Echo Fox and NRG."

Mira looked at him with an unreadable expression and then looked at her phone looking up the specific teams. Finding that Stephen was right, she reluctantly agreed. "Fine, but people watching people play video games sounds really stupid."

"They make money and they are reach the key demographics. I myself have a Youtube and Twitch account that I still post videos, gonna be uploading videos as soon as my equipment gets here. I'm waiting on my recording equipment before I do something else. Actually, I've been meaning to ask Makarov for permission to put up highlights."

Mira frowned. "Why would you ask for permission, can't you just post it?"

"If I want to be brought down for plagiarism, sure I can." Stephen said sarcastically. "Yeah, I rather make sure that everything is legal. I won't make money from it unless he says I can."

Mira nodded. "I'll talk to him. Now, I bet you're hungry." At this, his stomach growled, much to his embarrassment. "Come on, let me treat you and Lis to lunch."

He nodded and three walked out after locking up. Meanwhile, Lucy was sitting at a pub overlooking Magnolia harbor. It wasn't where she planned to be on a Sunday date, but Natsu had been insistent on coming here. She had to admit for a pub it was pretty clean especially one based on American cuisine. She couldn't say the same thing about Natsu as he wolfed down his lunch.

"Natsu, could you please eat a little neater please? You're supposed to be representing the team on and off the field. You can't eat like a pig."

Natsu finished gulping down a chicken wing. "But I get hungry very easily and this food is delicious," he said with his mouth still full of food.

Lucy sighed as she finished eating her chicken. She felt a tap on her leg and turned to see two children a boy and a girl that looked about eight years old. "Hello there what are your names?"

"Oh my apologies, Katie and Johan here saw you two and wanted to ask for some autographs." The black haired woman she presumed was their mother.

Lucy beamed and kicked Natsu in the shin to get him to stop eating. "Sure thing!"

The little girl, Katie beam as she held up her cap. "You're so pretty, you're like Miss Mira!"

"Aww, I'm not that pretty. But thank you." Lucy said as she signed the hat.

"Pretty, huh?" Natsu mumbled only to yelp in pain as Lucy kicked him again. He wipe his hands. "Sorry, so what's your name?

"Johan, Mr. Dragneel. I saw your goal against Hargeon. You were awesome. You guys are much nicer than those smelly Tigers."

Natsu laughed. "Of course! We're gonna beat them and win the whole league!"

"Really?" Johan asked eyes sparkling. At Natsu's nod the small boy cheered. His cheer got the rest of the bar to cheer as well.

Lucy laughed. "There is a lot of support here!"

"Yeah. Magnolia, being the second largest city in Fiore hosts three First Saint teams and three other teams of lower tiers. They can be roughly split three sections, the area around the port is City's section, the area where the tourists go is United's and the rich area is home to Real Veronica. It gets ugly especially on Derby days. We play at United in November and Vs. Veronica before the end of the year."

Natsu finished up and two allowed the kids to take pictures with them. Lucy fought to fight down a blush as Natsu wrapped his arm around her as the kids enjoyed being in the same picture of two of their stars. They finished their meals amidst their raucous supporters and headed back to the dorms.

Next Day about 10AM

Coach Clive smiled as the healthy players trickled into the conference room. He especially looked at his new players, Stephen and Lucy. The blonde was talking with Levy and Mira and looking like she fit right in. The American was glancing at his phone, more likely catching up on something related to the U.S.

"Alright, glad to see everyone here, we have a few things to talk about mostly about the upcoming schedule. We have Oshibanna Town this week, then FC Crocus next week, then our Champion's League game in London against Arsenal. Then we come back and play Oak Town. Then it's the Ishgar cup. Between now and the end of November we will be playing 12 league games, five Champion's League games and possibly up to three Ishgar games. The Mavis Cup does not begin for us until the beginning of the year. But I want all of you to give your all as I know you can. So that being said, here's the deal. Those who are playing Oshibanna town may not start against Arsenal. And those playing against Crocus may not play against Barcelona."

Those normally on the bench knew what that meant. They would get a chance to shine against their league compatriots and lower tier opponents while those who normally got the start could rest for the games against international competition. The Barcelona game was especially important as the Spanish club was considered one best clubs in the world. They were the current La Liga champions, leaders of the current Spanish season and the runner-up to last year's Champion's league. With stars like Lionel Messi III, Juan Suarez and Raymundo, it was easy to see how they could dominate. They had heard the whisperings, Magnolia City was not going to make it out of their group especially with Arsenal playing the way they were in England, currently 2nd behind their rivals Chelsea. They would need their best players at peak condition to even have a chance especially away from Magnolia.

"So those who we plan on using in Arsenal will play sparingly, so be ready for a short leash. That's next week. Let's focus on this week. We have Oshibanna Town. They have 1 win against Hargeon and 1 loss against Alverez.

Stephen noticed Natsu clench his fist at the mention of the current champs. He would figure it out later.

"Their formation is based around Erigor, their striker, who has been responsible for 2 of their gals this year. Last year he scored 20 goals which while well behind someone like Erza and Natsu, still led the team and helped them finish 17th, good enough to stay out of Relegation. Their 4-3-2-1 is otherwise not impressive but do not let the game we have against Arsenal distract you. Anyway, now for the line ups, we will be making a lot of changes in prep for the International game. So Elfman will stay as Goal keeper. Bickslow, Droy, Mira and Redfox in the backline. Ever, Erza, Cana and Freed will be the midfield. And Natsu and Mest will be the Forwards. Lisanna, Stephen, Lucy, Jet, Wakaba and Macao will be our reserves. Alright, I want you back here after lunch to practice and to go over film."

The group dispersed into their groups. Stephen walked over to Makarov who was watching the meeting with a stern look. "Sir, can I talk to you about something?"

"Ah yes, you wanted to talk about your video site. Come on, we can talk in my office."

Stephen followed the diminutive owner and the coach through the halls and up towards the relatively lavish office. It had pictures of all the teams that passed through Magnolia City's history along with the pictures of the various owners and coaches. He looked at one in particular. This one was labeled 2023-2024 and had what looked to be a younger Makarov sitting with the rest of the players.

"Haha, curious are you my boy?" Makarov asked jovially. "Well, I can say I've been with this team since before your father was born. I grew up rooting for them, I played with them and now I own it. Anything since the 2010's I've been a part of this team's fortunes, good and bad." The man walked behind his desk. "So, what can I do for ya?"

Stephen cleared his throat. "Okay. So, in case you haven't heard, I run a Youtube and Twitch channel on the side. It focuses on gaming content and other stuff that I like. I record stuff and post it on the site and then if I get a certain number of views I can make a little bit of money of it. I made some money in college doing this and if I didn't like soccer so much I could have made a career out of it."

"Ah, yes, your Let's Play channel. Must say when I did my background check, I saw your channels. Haha, you are pretty good at these games and the commentary," Makarov chuckled. Stephen smiled, seeing he was getting to him

"Yes, well that was part of why I wanted to talk to you. See, my recording equipment is being shipped out and hopefully by the time we get back from Barcelona it will be here. So I have two questions. One, do I have your permission to keep doing that?"

The owner and coach looked at each other and then Gildarts spoke. "If these, games, don't interfere with your work, then I can't see any reason to stop you. If I recall you might have to do some crazy tax keeping because of that."

Stephen shivered. "Yeah, right. Uh, thank you. Anyway, question number 2 is, can I post highlights of our games on my channel. Or perhaps full games? It will help expose the brand and maybe get some fans across the pond

Makarov hummed. "The primary issue to broadcasting an actual game would be due to the exclusivity for this country's games being given to Sky Sports for the International and the Fiore Sports Network for Domestic. We would have to ask them to allow a rebroadcast on Twitch However, the highlights would be much easier 'cause it only involves clips. And because I'm giving you permission to release the video, I can discuss it with the league if something comes up."

Stephen sighed. One out of two wasn't bad. "Alright, thanks. I might ask the other players to play with me sometime. I'll work on getting the videos published." He said and he got up to leave.

"How are you adjusting?"

This question caught the young man off guard. He looked over his shoulder, "Oh, it's been nice. Natsu, Lucy and Lisanna have been helping me adjust, it's been fun. Its kind of hard for a guy like me to be social with the whole team."

"Yes, it is quite difficult being away from home, especially one with your, particular issue." The owner revealed.

Stephen stiffened getting Gildarts to raise an eyebrow. Makarov continued. "If there is one thing about Magnolia City, it's as long as you wield that shield, you will always have family here. Whether it's as a foreign national or my idiot grandson, we don't throw people out unless they have wronged us. You will find that discrimination has no place here unlike the rest of Europe. Just don't shut yourself off."

Stephen nodded and left the office. Gildarts looked at Makarov. "What do you mean condition? If its something that could be a determent then why did you sign him?"

"It's not physical if that's what you're thinking. His asthma was well known in the scouting reports and is well controlled. No, the issue is mental. He is a nice boy, however most took one look at his psychological profile and dropped their pursuit. He's autistic."

Gildarts closed his eyes and sighed. "That would explain a few things. And would also tell us why they would not want him. Because of his potential for outbursts and his inability to focus they would assume he has a bad attitude. Combined with being an American, I doubt we were his first choice."

"He sent his videos to as many teams as he could. Arsenal, Manchester, Madrid, PSG, Millan, Porto, you name the team they turned him down.'

"Why take that risk?" The coach wondered.

"Because I believe he needs us just as much as we need him." Makarov said as he walked over to the window that overlooked the pitch. "Most of our team grew up together and they bonded through mutual respect. Barring Miss Heartfillia's situation and yours with Cana, how many of our young brats have actual parents."

Gildarts thought about it and realized how many orphans there were. "Only Natsu has some parental upbringing. Alzack and Bisca are parents of course but not a lot of them have that. And then Macao has Romeo who's in the academy."

Makarov watched as Stephen began to warm up. "I personally believed he would have suffered on those teams. This being a friendlier environment might make him shine. Stephen being an outsider would also get some people to open up more. He's already doing a great job with the younger Ms. Strauss." He said as Lisanna walked over to Stephen. The young man was talking adamantly about something that the white haired girl seemed intrigued by. "This team, I feel something special about it this year."

Gildarts nodded and walked out. "We'll see. I can't believe I might have to start a rookie against the best team in the world."

"Until Laxus is better, he's the best we got. Now then the brats need some guidance, go be a coach."

Gildarts laughed and waved back before heading downstairs. Makarov returned to his paperwork and sighed. He really wished he was thirty years younger.

Saturday, September 12th, Ninety minutes before kickoff, 11:30 AM local time

Stephen was warming up on the Magnolia City side. The stadium, Reaper's Alley was of a decent size, about 34,000 people could sit comfortably in the stands. Like Mavis Memorial, this was completely enclosed. Unlike the Fairies stadium it wasn't big height wise, perhaps 10 or 12 rows high. While smaller, it was more intimate and allowed the fans to be closer to the field.

"You Fairies are going down!" A fan boasted.

This unfortunately meant that any fans could come closer to the field and hurl insults at opposing players. Which at the moment was Stephen and Lucy.

He sighed. "Geez, this is worse than College Football. At least the fans are far enough away from the field."

Lucy looked at her American teammate. "Is it that bad?"

Stephen ignored the rant. "Most games are civil enough. It's the rivalry games that are really bad. Seriously though, it should be illegal to be drinking this early."

Lisanna jogged over. "What's up guys?"

"Just dealing with some hecklers. They can be so annoying. So glad Florida State never got that bad. Save maybe Miami…no wait, they have been worse," Stephen deadpanned.

"How bad could they be?" Lisanna asked as they started do long steps.

"Garbage thrown onto the field because of a call that was correct. Let's also add in that the hit was a helmet to helmet blow and got him ejected," Stephen pointed out.

Lucy shook her head. "Remind me to not go to a game like that."

"It's not that bad. Most of the time." Stephen grumbled.

As they walked they saw Natsu take another shot at the net. Lucy smiled and blushed at the shot. Lisanna noticed and smiled. "Natsu's amazing huh."

The blonde sputtered getting the two to laugh. She was saved from answering by Erza's call for them to fall in and head to the locker room. In Lisanna's mind, she was thinking of ways to get the two together.

An hour later: Commentary booth 

Chimati: Good Day Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Week 3 of the Carnival First Saint League. We are here live from the Reaper's Alley, Home of Oshibanna Town. This is one of 10 games this week in Fiore's top tier with the biggest game today being in Belladonna City, where AFC Black Cube is playing Tenrou Island. But here at the Alley, its Oshibanna Town and Magnolia City. Alongside Jason Thompson, I am Chipatti Lola. The hometown Reapers are sitting on three points thanks to a 2-0 win over Hargeon last week. Jason, it's still early but Oshibanna could use the early games to make a push for the top of the table. With Erigor as part of the attack, they are tough to stop.

Jason: He's scored two of Oshibanna's goals this year and it has to do with his physical toughness. He barrels through players like no one's business. While this toughness has given him opportunities, he's also picked up two yellow cards. Magnolia City could use that to their advantage.

Chimati: Speaking of the Fairies, they are starting their fourth different Forward in three matches, but not because of injury. Magnolia City will be traveling to London to face powerhouse Arsenal, so many of the young talent that has shined so far this year will be on the bench. (Magnolia's line-up is shown) Among the changes are Bicklsow in the back line while Evergreen, Freed Justine, and Cana Albornia are in the midfield, with Mest Gryder up with Natsu Dragneel.

Jason: The biggest surprise is having both Dragneel and Scarlet start this game when they are probably going to play in London. My guess is Coach Clive wants to have both Natsu and Erza lead the team through this game and then give it up to their bench. Don't be surprised if the hook is early for both of them.

Chimati: This is probably a good problem to have, a plethora of good players that they could swap around at will and worry about certain players getting playing. But Europe and Fiore are two different leagues entirely. If there was one stretch of games that they would be missing their injured striker Laxus Dreyer, this would be it.

In the tunnel, Magnolia City was walking towards the entrance of the locker room. Natsu was bouncing on his legs. "I'm all fired up, Come on let's get this show on the road.

"Yes…this show to destroy you pathetic flies," A snide voice snarked. Everyone turned to see a tall silver haired man with Oshibanna's home uniform on, a dark purple with blue stripes and black shorts. On his arm was the captain's armband.

Natsu knew he wanted to make a move, heck most of the starters wanted to return the insult, but they were calmer than that. They watched as the Reapers headed down the hall. Erza began to speak. "Do not look forward to next week, we take this one season at a time. Stay vigilant, stay focused, stay clean."

Everyone else positively replied. An official got her attention and led them onto the field to a small chorus of boos. These boos changed as the first bars of Volbeat's Heaven or Hell began to play. Out of the entrance on the Southside of the stadium, the starting eleven marched out to the cheers and the waves of the crowd. On the bench, Stephen sighed. "Damn, that's two songs I like, are all of Fiore's entrance heavy rock?"

Lisanna looked up in thought. "Most of them, I think we have one of the prettier ones."

"Not bashing U2, I like them. But it seems like Fiore took a page from the NFL. Speaking of which, I really wish I could watch my football but we are seven hours ahead of US Eastern Time. Pros would be fine if they aren't the night games. College different story."

"You could stay up and stream while watching it?"

"Maybe."

Gildarts came over to two. "Alright, focus guys, game's about to start," he ordered. They turned to see Natsu and Mest in the circle. At the ref's whistle, Natsu passed it out to Erza who sent it down to Cana.

Chimati: And we are underway here at the Alley. Dragneel passes to Scarlet, dumps to Albornia, who sends into the attacking zone. Passes up to Gryder who gets intercepted by Kageyama. He tries to pass forward to Erigor, but it goes wide and the male Strauss sibling wraps it up.

Most of the first half continued this way as Oshibanna's one dimension offense was barely getting through the midfield while Magnolia's conservative attack was easily stymied.

Stephen groaned watching from the bench. "This is seriously like watch Florida State crush teams like Charleston Southern."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"Typically before the meat of their schedule pops up, they play a warm up game. They would pay the teams to essentially lose so the starters and their backups get work in. Because we got Arsenal and Barcelona in the next couple of weeks, this is to save as much of their legs as possible."

"I see. So by keeping us on the bench, he could theoretically use all of us at Arsenal. But why start Erza and Natsu?" Lucy pondered

"Natsu and Erza have the most energy among us. Natsu could go three matches plus extra time on his energy output alone. Erza rarely misses a game that wasn't due to card accumulation. My guess is Coach Clive wants leadership out there," Lisanna theorized.

Stephen watched as Natsu took another pass only for to be knocked out of bounds off him. "You guys have been together for a very long time haven't ya?"

Lisanna watched the throw in. "Most of us have been together since we were really young. I believe Gajeel was the one before you that the so called new guy. With the exception of the Dragneels, Magnolia City is all we have. Heck, we were on the streets when Makarov happened to see Mira and Elfman play. It was only a matter of time before I joined them."

"Lisanna…" Lucy whispered. "I never knew it was that bad."

The white haired girl looked at the two. "Don't worry about it. We may come from different worlds, but what matters is right here." She pounded the shield. "We are Fairies where it counts."

Stephen chuckled. "I guess so. Just be careful with that word. In the U.S Fairy can actually mean gay. But, I guess you're right. You guys got another nickname?"

"Um…I think the one name that gets tossed around a bit are the Phoenixes. Because we were so close to bankruptcy a couple of times and then we roared back to be relevant again. We are in the middle of one of those rebirths so to speak."

"Right. Well, just saying that's the name I would prefer to use. Nothing against the other name though."

After that, the trio paid a little bit closer attention to the game. Other than a few fouls, the game was quiet a testament to the playstyle the team had adopted today. When the First Half whistle blew they actually were glad, because that meant they were probably going to be subbed in the second half.

Entering the locker room, the three watched as the starters walk in. Natsu looked incredibly antsy. "Damn it coach just let me get going. I can't just play conservative!"

"Natsu, the orders were to keep your energy high so you won't need to rest as much for when we go to London," Erza admonished.

"Screw that, I saw Erigor. If he wasn't such a cocky prick, he would have gotten to Elfman more."

"As much as I hate to say it, Salamander has a point, why can't we push forward?" Gajeel brought up.

"The plan is working and our backline is doing fine. Mira, how are you holding up?" Gildarts asked.

"I can keep going!" Mira said smiling. "Gajeel is being a baby but he's okay. Bickslow and Alzack are a little winded but they continue."

Gildarts nodded. Then he turned to his left. "Steven, Lisanna." The two turned around at their coaches orders. "Be ready to sub in the second half."

Lisanna looked confused. "Why not Lucy?"

"Cause you haven't gotten playing time and she has. Besides, I'm still experimenting with the main line up going forward."

The coach left and Lisanna turned to Lucy. "You should have taken that spot.

Lucy shook her head "Lisanna, don't. I want to see you play. There are plenty more games ahead of us," She took her hand. "You will be great."

Lisanna smiled. "Thanks Lucy."

Stephen chuckled. "It's like your long lost sisters or something." He held out his hand. "Let's show them we mean business."

The two girls pounded his fist and headed out to the bench to warm up.

Chimatti: As the second half begins, do we see a change in strategy for Magnolia City who only had three shots on goal.

Jason: If their goal is to rest their key players, they have done well so far. If their defense can hold it, they will take a point.

Chimatti: (Whistle blows) There's the whistle. Kageyama takes, dumps it to Erigor who barrels right through the midfield. He takes a shot and it goes wide

Jason: Trying to catch the defense off guard. But too much power in kick and Erigor must be regretting the lack of control.

The next ten minutes was Oshibanna trying to aggressively attack, taking advantage of the playstyle Magnolia City were employing. While the defense held, it was obvaious that if their concentration lapsed there would be a goal.

At the 56 minute mark, after Erza sent a shot in, Gildarts had seen enough. He looked to see Stephen and Lisanna stretching out. "Strauss, Decatur, finish getting ready, you're going in!"

The two nodded and sped up their preparations to take the field.

Chiamtti; Looks like City is warming up the subs. Decatur is one and look at this, it's the third Strauss sibling, Lisanna.

Jason: My guess is Decatur is coming on for Dragneel, the question is is Lisanna going to replace Scarlet?

At about the hour mark, Erza deflected a shot off the opposing midfielder. The fourth ref signaled for the subs. First the 24 for Stephen showed up in green then Natsu's 10. The second numbers were Lisanna's 12 and Erza's 5. Gildarts pulled them aside. "Remember the strategy."

Stephen nodded and pounded Lisanna's fist again. Natsu came in and tagged Stephen in. Erza arrived moments later and hugged the young girl whispering good luck. She quickly followed after the American. He looked behind him and shook his head. "Screw that strategy, if I see a chance I'm taking it. You with me?" He asked Lisanna.

Lisanna looked at the rest of the team and then at Erigor who was mocking them. "Yeah. Let me try to get the ball. I have more control than you."

Stephen moved up field as Lisanna moved closer to the throw in spot. When the ball was thrown, Lisanna was right there aggressively taking the pass and sending it up field. Mest was unprepared for the aggressiveness but he still handled it and sent it towards Stephen who was in the 18 yard box. He took a shot which went in but he heard the whistle that he was offisdes.

"Well damn." He turned around to head back to defend.

Chimatti: Kracka takes the throw in, intercepted by Strauss. That will get confusing! Passes it up field to Gryder, dumps it to Decatur and he takes the shot! Its in, but he's offside!

Jason: Something tells me that wasn't in the playbook because Gryder was surprised to get the ball that far up! But like the game with Hargeon, Decatur has provided a bolt to this offense.

On the City bench, Gildarts looked livid. "What is that idiot thinking? What are both of them thinking?" He looked to see his bench actually energized for the first time all game.

"Maybe he's doing this to get the team fired up." Erza suggested. "He had been on the bench for at least an hour and he was probably just as antsy as Natsu was."

The coach calmed down as he thought about it. It did make some sense. The back line seems to get the message too as they prevented another run in.

Erigor was just as livid but for a different reason. He was one or two good plays from scoring on a less motivated defense and now they were ready to fight back. He knew who was responsible and glared at the offending striker. Two minutes later, Stephen was making a run when Erigor came charging in. Stephen detected it and attempted to jump out of the way but he still go caught and landed on the turf. He rolled around but didn't feel any pain. The ref though saw the charge and stomped over to the striker to give him a yellow and give Stephen a free kick.

Lisanna ran over to him. "You alright?" She asked helping him up.

"I've been hit with worse. Don't worry, I can take it. But there is no way we can score with Erigor in our face like this. Any ideas?"

"Not at the moment, still trying to fight in the midfield here. Though with that yellow, Erigor might be more relenting."

"Don't count on it."

The next twenty minutes was proving to be a back and forth affair as Magnolia City had renewed their attack. But bad luck either had them shooting wide or being offside at the wrong moment. At the 85th minute mark, Elfman was kicking it out to the midfield. Oshibanna had moved all of their midfield up and were trying to double team Stephen.

As he crossed midfield and headed towards to the goal, Erigor got into his face. "You little fly can't you see, it's impossible to get through. We'll beat you and then we'll go all the way to the top!"

Stephen didn't flinch as he controlled the ball in front of the Shinigami. As he turned around, he spotted Lisanna about 15 yards out. At a glance, suddenly a plan clicked between the two as the younger Strauss sibling began to dash at him. Stephen turned around and head back towards the sideline. Erigor kept up with him and made the mistake at focusing on his face. So focused on the American he didn't see him plant the ball and moved away.

(Play Fairy Tail Theme)

"Gotcha now, Fly!" Erigor laughed as he chased him down

"Have you been to an eye doctor? Look down!" Drew taunted as he turned away. Erigor did so and gasped at seeing the ball not there.

"Where…" He felt the wind brush by him. He turned to see Lisanna completely open and her leg stretched out. The ball sailed by his face. Then it sailed by the keeper who was too far out and hit the upper right side of the goal and the back of the net. Lisanna was already cheering as she ran around look celebrating. The first one there to greet her was her sister Mira who hugged her and raised her above her head.

Chimatti: Stephen controls the balls heads close, turns it back around he loses control of the ball…Lisanna Gets It! Shoots AND IN! She scores her first career goal in her first Cap and what a goal for the highlight reel! (Replays begin showing) Where did she come from? She wasn't even in the camera she takes advantage of a misplay by her teammate and launches the shot right into the back of the net

Jason: (Another replay shows the two strikers facing off) I think the misplay was not on Decatur but on Erigor. Because look at the American's footwork. (Zoom in) He…stopped the ball completely! He lured Erigor off to the side. Erigor wasn't paying attention to the ball and it cost Oshibanna Town. (Camera switches to Mira) Big sister's face says it all. (Switch Gildarts and the bench) The surprise on the coach is understandable as his team is now up with two minutes left in Regulation. (Switches to Stephen who cool pumped his fist) He looks as like an action hero as he turns away. Cool guys don't watch explosions indeed.

Stephen jogged over to the jubilant girl. "Great finish Lisanna."

"All thanks to you. Where did you come up with that trick?"

"Honestly, the moment I saw you, it was instinct."

Mira happened to be in ear shot and had to hold in a gasp. That play was on the spot? They had only being playing real soccer together for less than a half an hour, how did they develop that instinct already? She had to find out from Stephen later. Now they had to finish the game

Oshibanna Town 0-1 Magnolia City

Li. Strauss 87' (MAGC)

Oshibanna took the kickoff and tried to score again but they only managed to get close enough once as the remaining time ticked away. Thanks to Lisanna's goal, they now had nine points from three matches. But now, they must be ready to tackle the world stage. Who will win as the best in Europe prepare to play for one of the most prestigious trophies in sports? Find out next time.

 **END OF CHAPTER**

 **UO: Consider this your Christmas gift and last update of the year.**

 **Teams**

 **Oshibanna Town: A small club founded in the early days of the First Saint League. They have never won the First Saint League, the closest being 5** **th** **in 2005.**

 **Previous year: 16** **th**

 **Colors: Home: Purple with blue stripes and Blue shorts. Away: Black with red shorts**

 **Shield: Eisenwald symbol**

 **Preview: As the Champion's League unfolds, Magnolia City is considered the underdogs in a group that contain two of the best teams in the world. How will Magnolia City handle the legendary Camp Nou in Barcelona? Find out next time**

 **Next Chapter: The World Stage: FC Barcelona Vs Magnolia City**

 **Next Update is Nakama United**

 **Please Review Kindly. Also check out my pals, Lalapie203, Spartan719, Code-Emperor07, Kurogane 7, Soleneus, Soulsilverlord, Vanishing Raptor, Kage Bijuu, Giratina Zero EvashinobiKaiserKnight Kamen Rider Super-Fan and NorthSouthGorem. I help on a lot of their works. Also call me out on mistakes.**

 **One last thing, I have a Forum to discuss future ideas. Its on the Writer's United Forum under UnitedOsprey1991 ideas and discussions.**

 **OSPREY...SWOOOSH**

 **Update 1/5/17: Due to the site not liking my spacing when there is a score i will have to label each score for which team. In this case MAGC is Magnolia City. Yes it says Magic and yes it also fits RWBY's team style**


	5. The World Stage: Barcelona Vs Magnolia

**OSPREY…SWOOOSH**

 **UO: Okay time to hit the pitch. Before we move on, I would like to take the time to dedicate this chapter to my friend Lalapie203. She is a nice girl going through school and all the stuff that seems to plague her age group. Anyway, her favorite team is FC Barcelona and as our heroes get the Kings of Europe in this chapter, I figured I make a chapter dedicated to her. Her stuff is on the fluffier end of the Fairy Tail fandom but she likes this and 2** **nd** **Magnolia. Thanks for the inspiration Lala.**

 **Anyway ACTOR CHECK!**

 **Natsu: Geez, soccer after what we just did in Nakama? Your crazy.**

 **Lucy: Excuse me? You were saving me so be a little more considerate.**

 **Grey: Give me a break flame brain, you did all the work.**

 **Natsu: Wish we could get a break from your stripping habit!**

 **Grey (In his underwear) What the hell?**

 **Stephen: God I wish I didn't have to see that, or a brawl, or Lucy somehow losing her clothes**

 **Lucy: Calling me ugly!?**

 **Stephen: I'll shut up because that is a trap, but no I wasn't.**

 **UO: Thank god the studio (Natsu and Grey start fighting which gets everyone else involved) Never mind. Someone do the disclaimer.**

 **Mira: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own Fairy Tail or Soccer or anything he mentions. He only owns the plot and his OC's**

 **UO: Thank you, let's play**

Normal text: Speaking or normal talking

 _"Quotes and Italics: Phone Conversation_

' _Apostrophe and Italics': Thoughts_

 **Bold: Yelling**

Underline: Location and Time in match

Person's name followed by a colon: In-game announcer

Chapter 5: The World Stage: FC Barcelona Vs Magnolia City

September 20th, 7:00PM after the FC Crocus game, Fairy Tail Dorm

When we last left the First Saint League, Magnolia City had beaten Oshibanna Town, thanks to some surprising teamwork between Lisanna and Stephen resulting in the white haired girl's first career goal in her first appearance.

In the two weeks since, they had left the shores of Fiore for the first game of the UEFA champion's League against Arsenal. Much to the surprise of everyone not a Magnolia City supporter, the Fairies had beaten the Gunners by a score of 1-2, thanks to goals from Natsu and Stephen late in the game. Arsenal was considered one of the favorites to get out of the group, to lose like that would shake anyone's confidence.

Domestically, they had just played FC Crocus. Unlike the Arsenal game, they handled the game quite well, thanks in part to Erza finally getting a goal and then Natsu added a second to put it out of reach. The win also gave Elfman his third domestic clean sheet, or shutout.

But now the focus was on the game in Spain. They would be heading out tomorrow for what many people were predicting was going to be a bloodbath. And Magnolia City would be the sacrificial lambs. Not that the players could blame the fans. Barcelona was consistently one of the best teams in Europe. Thanks to how they distributed the teams, this would only be Barcelona's second game, whereas Magnolia City, would be playing their fourth.

This was due to what the UEFA governing body called a coeffiecnt system. Based on performance in both Champion's and the Europa league over three years, countries would be allocated teams to ensure the 'best competition.' In reality that system was to ensure that the big name countries like Spain and England got as many teams as possible. With 56 countries, they split the tournament into four different qualifying rounds, with 22 directly qualifying for the group stage and leaving ten spots for 5 other champions and five teams that finished in a certain spot of a league's table. Barcelona being the previous year's champion of Europe was allowed in at the expense of one of the four spots allowed to Spain as the so called best league in Europe

Fiore by contrast was allowed three spots. Two directly qualifying and one going into the round before the Group Stage. The two direct qualifiers were Magnolia United as champions and runner-up AFC Black Cube. Magnolia City as the third place team was put in the playoff round where they beat Italian giant Juventus. Perhaps people had a short memory, because with Arsenal, that was two big teams they had beaten. Granted, Juventus had been on the decline the last couple of years, but they were still one of the best teams in Italy.

But it could have been what lied at the end of the tournament that had all three Foirian teams excited. The Final of this season's Champion's League was going to be at the Fiore National Stadium in Crocus, the home of both Fiore National team and Real Crocus. To win the most prestigious club tournament in the world at their home stadium was a dream for many teams but none more so than Fiore as they had been constantly overlooked by many. Perhaps the Barcelona game would prove they could play with the big boys. Or fall flat on their faces, it was hard to tell in a competition this big. But all three were doing fine, with City and Black Cube winning their first matches and United drawing against Portugal's runner-up Sporting CP

Stephen wasn't concentrating on that today, he was worried about what was on his computer. He was sitting on his bed watching the end of one League of Legends World Championship games. It was America's TSM vs Japan's Rampage and like what most people expected, TSM was crushing Rampage. This was the second day of their group as in their format for the first week, three groups would play on a single day. Their group, Group C, which had TSM, Rampage, China's Snake Esports and Korea's KT Rolster, was one of the more intriguing groups but nothing that was like what happened in A. That group had the other wild card team INTZ from Brazil beating Edward Gaming from China and had Europe's Fanatic after this game.

" _Maokai is just tanking so much as he takes two shots from the Curtain's Call. Jhin is going down, then Zyra. The nexus turrets are down and now the Nexus, and that is a 30 minute clinic by TSM!"_

Stephen muted it and turned his attention to the chat which was congratulating TSM. A knock on his door got his attention. "Come in Natsu!"

The salmon-haired striker opened the door and came in, Happy eagerly jumping on the bed. "Hey how's it going?"

"Oh nothing much, just watching the pros fight here," Stephen replied waving to his computer. "Just watched North America kick Japan's butt. It proves they are one of the best in the world."

"Still can't believe they have pro leagues for this. Hey, you want to set it up in the living room?"

"Sure, just give me a minute to set it up."

Natsu watched as he unhooked his lap top and his charger. Then he brought into the room to set it to stream to the T.V.

"So, who are the top dogs in this esports thing?" Natsu asked.

"Korea is always gonna be the mecca of esports. In League, their teams are considered the favorites for international tournaments like this. As for individual teams? SKT which I think is the fifth match tonight, are the defending champs. Their best player is False, grandson of one of the first great champions in this, Faker. He's the shot caller in the top lane."

"Ah," Natsu said not really getting it. He then frowned. "Speaking of top dogs, you know who we face on Wednesday right?"

"Thanks for reminding me that I'm about to start one of the biggest games of my young career. Playing one of the best teams in the world in a stadium that's comparable to the University of Michigan's stadium in size. Yeah real confidence booster!" Stephen snapped. He then calmed down. "Sorry."

Natsu waved it off. "It's fine. I don't what you're worked up about."

"I'm watching this to take my mind of it and you are not helping," replied Stephen. He shook his head.

"Okay, I'm sorry! Geez, take it easy."

Stephen seemed to visibly relax. "Alright," He sat back on the couch and watched as the commentators previewed the next game. "Facing Barcelona is like facing SKT. You can plan every contingency, but somehow they will find a way to get a Pentakill."

"I didn't take ya for a pessimist."

"I'm not, just thinking how daunting it could be. But then they could have a bad day and we end up winning it. You never know. Hang on let me check the betting lines." Almost everyone in soccer knew that gambling was a lucrative business. They would bet on almost everything that could happen, from yellow cards to shots on goal by a certain point. The most popular bet was the Over/Under, the amount of goals scored in the game. Taking a look at it, he had to wince. The number was 4.5. "Ouch, they are predicting a blow out on the part of Barcelona."

"Well then we can prove them wrong!" Natsu boasted.

Stephen smiled at that and then looked the prediction wheel. While Barcelona was favored quite a bit at about 73%, the fact that their part of the pie was smaller than the draw prediction said a lot about the confidence bettors had in them, which was not a lot. Looking at betting numbers, it showing that the big bet was Barcelona winning by 2.5 goals. That meant whoever bet on Barcelona would pay out if they won by three. Conversely, if Magnolia City won, or lost by one or two, they would be paid as well. The money line was also favoring Barcelona at -175, while Magnolia City was + 370. He knew from the NFL that a negative number would mean a favorite. So if Magnolia City won, there would be a huge payout on whoever bet on them.

"Uh Stephen? Your game is on!" Natsu told him snapping him out of his research. He watched as the next match started and he forgot about the game on Wednesday to focus on the two teams on the Rift.

Monday, September 22nd, 9:00 AM Fiore Time

Gildarts observed the gathered group. The 18 he had in this room would be the team they would bring to Barcelona. His 18 best players available. The rest of the team would stay behind and hopefully be ready to go against Oak Town. They were going straight to the airport after this, where they would catch their charter which would bring them and some local supporters to the game. Magnolia City wasn't a marquee name outside of the country, so he wanted some support there, considering the size of the stadium. Based on ticket sales, there may be at best 5 to 6,000 Fairy supporters in the 105,000 seat Camp Nou.

"Alright Ladies and Gentlemen! We need our full attention on this. Quicker we do this, the quicker we get on the plane!"

"Do we have to travel by plane!?" Natsu and Gajeel chorused.

"Yes! Now Shut up!" Gildarts snapped. He turned on the projector. "Alright, FC Barcelona. I doubt we need much introduction. Best in Spain. Multi-time champion of Europe. Three superstars with more money than all our roster combined. Yada yada, you get the deal. That's all the hype surrounding the team, and that hype is entirely founded.

He pulled up a screen with Barcelona's squad. "They are at the top of their table, with 19 points, their only blemish being a draw against Atletico Madrid. They have a modified 4-3-1-2 formation, with their three stars being Suarez in the midfield, Messi and Raymundo in the forwards. That's why I want Erza to be the one on Suarez. Of the four starting midfielders you're the only one with the speed and toughness. Be wary, Suarez will not hesitate to take you down."

Erza nodded. "I'll do my best!"

He turned to the strikers. "Erza may be our captain, but Natsu, Stephen you need to be ready to take advantage of the smallest mistakes."

The two strikers nodded. He turned to the back line. "Mira, make sure everyone in the back is on the same page. We need full focus all 90 minutes."

"You got it!"

"He turned to address the rest of the team. "You guys are the best team I've ever managed her at Magnolia City. And this game is where we prove it. Who are we?"

"MAGNOLIA CITY!"

"That's right!" Gildarts chuckled. "Alright, pack up and be on the bus in 30 minutes!"

The team filed out with enthusiasm and headed towards the bus. Two hours later they were on the plane to Barcelona. Being a striker, Stephen got to sit upfront in First Class. He brought his laptop, his headphones, his gear and four days' worth of clothes. As the plane approached cruising altitude he brought out his computer.

"Let's see…watched most of Worlds. Next DOTA Major is in December. RWBY just ended volume 2, damn that is a good show. Achievement Hunter has GTA today, but the release is based on US Central time. So they aren't going public until," he looked at his watch. "Five hours from now. Good thing I got membership." He pulled up the famous website and logged in. He was about to hit play when Lisanna came up to his seat.

"Hey there."

"Hey Lis, what's up?"

"Nothing, just wanting to see how you strikers are holding up here," She giggled. Stephen was quickly learning that her laughter was one of his favorite sounds. That quickly was drowned out by Natsu's moaning.

"Damn it, his motion sickness patches must be wearing off. Where's Lucy?"

"I got her," Lisanna replied heading to the back of the plane to get the blonde. Moments later, the two came back to the front. One look and Lucy had to shake her head at Natsu's pathetic face. She got into the seat next to him and laid his head on her lap. The pink haired striker groaned in appreciation as Lucy rubbed his head.

"Well now that's taken care of, onto the insanity that is Achievement Hunter."

"Achievement what?" Lisanna asked curiously.

"Achievement Hunter. So there are people who actually record themselves play video games and provide commentary. Many do it for comedy and some do it for actual walkthroughs. These guys are the former. They are the gaming division of the company Rooster Teeth a very popular online company. Want to watch?"

Curiosity peaked, Lisanna sat next to him and he shared the headphones and started the episode. Within ten minutes, Lisanna was having trouble keeping her laughs as the infamous group was causing mass destruction in game. This bout of silliness was caused by Gavin, who after deciding to fly away from the cops, ended up crashing his in-game plane into the others.

" _DAMN IT GAVIN WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?"_ The camera showed the voice came from Michael.

" _I was trying to take off but a cop car clipped my wing!"_ Gavin tried to excuse himself.

" _YOU BLEW UP EVERY F***ING PLANE!"_

" _God Damnit!"_ Geoff screamed.

"Oh my god this is hilarious! And these guys do it for a living?"

"Yep. Their parent company is Rooster Teeth. Comedy, Gaming, Community. The company is older than all of the video streaming services. In fact Geoff is one of the founders."

Lisanna nodded as more chaos happened on screen. "So Rooster Teeth, does it have more than this?"

"Yeah, I can show you after this is over."

An hour later, Lisanna was sitting on the edge of her seat as the climatic fight of the volume took place. (It's the end of RWBY Volume 2)

"Wow! Are you sure this the same company as those Achievement Hunters?" Lisanna said amazed as the episode ended.

"Yep. Monty Oum, the creator of RWBY, is an animation genius. I hope I can meet him someday. Anyway, when I'm not playing, I'm watching stuff online."

"You must get bored," Lisanna pointed out.

"When you got something like soccer, I had to find some escape. These guys brighten my day."

Lisanna watched him talk about his love for these online videos while thinking about her past with her siblings. It wasn't even a decade ago, they were on the streets. They were orphaned due to various circumstances and Mira had to raise the two of them by herself. If it wasn't for her skills, they would still be there. Just listening to the six in the Achievement Hunter video made her smile. They acted like a father and his five sons.

"Something the matter, Lisanna?" Stephen asked.

The blue-eyed girl shook her head. "It's nothing."

Stephen regarded her for a moment then shook his head and returned to the computer. In no time, they were already touching down in the Spanish city.

Hotel, 9:00PM Central European Time

Stephen was laying on his bed finishing watching a video by Markiplier. It was a new horror game called Five Night's at Freddy and he had been laughing at Mark's reactions. Natsu was laughing like a mad man.

"Oh man, this guy is hilarious!" He roared trying to clear up his tears.

"Yeah, he's a big scaredy cat but a real big softy. He's the type of guy who will hug a puppy then hurt someone."

Before Natsu could look up another video, they heard a knock on their door. Natsu walked over to look through the eyehole. He saw Lucy and Lisanna at the door and opened up to see the blonde in a white tank top and pink sweats and the white haired girl in a t-shirt and sleep shorts.

"Hey girls, come on in!" Natsu told them as they came in.

"Just wanted to see what your up to," Lucy answered twirling a long blonde strand.

Stephen looked up to see Lisanna walking over. Thinking quickly he restarted the video and paused it. "Just watching a couple of videos, Spanish T.V doesn't have much on."

Lisanna and Lucy approached Stephen's laptop. "Can we?" Lisanna asked approaching the bed.

"Yes. Just be careful with it."

The two girls nodded and got on the bed. They started up the video and noted the nice looking player playing. As the game wore on, the two boys watched with grins as the girls started to shake from the tension and the fear. About 15 minutes into the video with Mark seemingly doing okay, one of the animatronics suddenly appeared. The girl's reaction was predictable. They screamed and held onto each other. The boys couldn't help it, they busted out laughing. After the girls calmed down, they saw the laughing boys and grabbed two pillows to toss at them.

"Okay…" Stephen choked out from the impact. "Too far. But so worth it."

Lucy pouted. "That was mean."

"Sorry, couldn't help it, it was set up perfectly," Natsu said calming down.

Lisanna sighed as she sat up. "We just wanted to say good night. Thanks for giving us nightmare.

"Okay, I get it. Let's hope Erza doesn't catch wind of this," Stephen mumbled.

"Catch wind of what?" Erza asked. Evidently the door was open and she had heard the commotion. "What is going on?"

"Sorry, we were watching a video and we got to loud," Lucy lied.

Erza watched Lucy and Lisanna with a critical eye before turning to the boys. "I just came to tell you, that it's lights out. We have practice in the morning."

"Alright, thanks Erza," Stephen sighed.

"Yeah, we'll keep it down!" Natsu sweated.

"See you do that. Lucy, Lisanna I'll escort you to your room."

The three girls left. The boys relaxed. "Man, we really got them," Natsu laughed.

"Yeah, thankfully they weren't too upset. At least enough for Erza," Stephen added. "Come on, we need to get some sleep."

Natsu nodded and they killed the lights before going to sleep.

Two Days later, 6:30 Central European time An hour before kickoff 

Stephen was shaking his leg as he sat on the bench in the visitor's locker room. He was dressed in Fairy Tail's road red uniform and faced his locker. Because the lockers at Camp Nou weren't designed to be co-ed, the girls and guys were forced to dress in the same room. Thankfully they put up a divider to allow the girls privacy.

He took a deep breath. "Five weeks into my pro career, and I'm already facing one of the biggest teams in the world. Great."

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Lisanna smiling. "You okay?"

"Just nervous I guess. Biggest game of my career so far. Can't be helped I guess."

The girl noticed his hand shaking as well. She took it gently and squeezed it. "It will be fine. Trust me. I got your back."

Stephen looked at the way she was holding his hand and smiled. "Thanks."

"Oh how sweet. My baby sister is growing up!" Mira squealed. Her shout got them to blush and separate. Lisanna puffed up her cheeks. "Mira~! Don't do that!"

"Sorry, but you two look so cute!" Mira placed a hand on her cheek. "If only some other people would acknowledge their feelings," She looked specifically at Natsu and Lucy who were talking normally.

"Mira, I hate to be the downer, but how about a little less focus on relationships and more on making sure your brother doesn't fact too many shots," Stephen growled.

Mira pouted. "You're no fun. Fine I'll go bug Natsu and Lucy!" She huffed and moved over to the other striker-midfielder pair.

Lisanna patted his shoulder. "Relax. Just take a deep breath. It's just a game. We got each other's back."

Stephen nodded, turning away to hide his blush.

Over with Natsu and Lucy, Natsu was bouncing around in excitement. "Alright, time to show those bastards how we play in Fiore."

"Natsu, please be careful. They aren't going to be like the teams we face. They will chew you up and spit you out."

"So what? I'm fired up for this!"

Lucy sighed. "Guess there's no stopping you." She smiled. "Let's hope we don't embarrass ourselves."

"That's the spirit!"

Lucy shook her head. The rest of the locker room finished their pre-game routine and waited for the call to line-up.

High about the field, Fox Sports Studio, thirty minutes before kickoff.

With a tournament as big as this, it going to be broadcast around the world. Granted FC Barcelona vs a team like Magnolia City wasn't going to draw as much interest as say Barcelona vs Arsenal but they would still broadcast as needed due to the contracts. Each country had its own studio to broadcast the games. The current contract holder in the U.S was Fox, through their Fox Sports label. With the time difference, the game would go on about 2:30 US Eastern Time, which would put it during a time when most people would be working. The two men working the booth would be Johnathon McFadden, a relatively new broadcaster for the network and Darlington Nagbe, a long time US Men's national team member that help the U.S get to the respect they have in 2069.

John: Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Camp Nou, home of the current Kings of Europe FC Barcelona as we prepare for Barcelona and Fiore's Magnolia City. I am Johnathon McFadden, alongside former US Men's national team midfielder Chase Donovan. Chase, on paper this seems like a mismatch. Barcelona has yet to drop a game this season as they are poised to make another run at both the La Liga and Champion's League crowns.

Chase: (Highlights of previous matches are shown)That's right John and it starts with their strikers Lionel Messi III and Raymundo. They have been nearly unstoppable with a combined 15 goals across all competition, I don't know if the back line for Magnolia can stop them they will be hard to predict.

John: Their midfield isn't shabby either thanks to Juan Suarez.

Chase: Yes, combine with the two forwards that account for 23 of the 30 goals scored for Barcelona across all competitions. Barcelona is equipped for the long run into the tournament.

John: I will say though Magnolia City has done great this year, having only allowed three goals across competitions, including the playoff round of the Champion's League.

Chase: That starts with two of the three Strauss siblings, Goalkeeper Elfman and his big sister Center Back Mirajane. Elfman is the tallest goalkeeper in the Fiore First Saint League and has only allowed one goal in their opening match against Port Hargeon. Since then he hasn't allowed a goal in domestic competition.

Chase: He can thank his big sister with him but also the play of his other backs like Gajeel Redfox. He's been brilliant since coming from rivals Oak Town.

John: Their strikers seem to be getting a lot of attention especially from the US Team.

Chase: (His goal from FC Crocus is shown) Stephen Decatur is a complete package, he's got burst, he's got power and he's got endurance. He said he can play anywhere which makes him versatile especially with Laxus Dreyer out for the foreseeable future. (Lisanna's goal is then shown with him highlighted.) He can make plays on the fly like this goal against league side Oshibanna Town where he literally stopped the ball, pulled his opponent away and set up the goal which turned out to be the game winner. With Natsu Dragneel in the 10 spot, they are a very strong team and could catch this defensive line off guard.

John: If there is one weakness Barcelona could exploit, it's their midfield.

Chase: This is the fifth different midfield they've started. The only constant has been the captain, Erza Scarlet. Coach Gildarts Clive has elected to start the youngest Strauss sibling Lisanna alongside her in the center and have Grey Fullbuster on her side with Lucy Heartfillia on the Scarlet's side. This is her first career start and what a way to start their international career.

John: I feel we are in for a very interesting game. Let's head down to the tunnel where the teams are waiting for their entrance.

In the tunnel, Magnolia was feeling the effects of being underneath a 105K stadium. They had lined up first after some words of encouragement from Gildarts. Some like Erza and Elfman were calm while those in the back were still shaking a bit. It was not helped that at that moment, Barcelona's roster showed up. The two strikers, Messi and Raymundo lined up next to the kids assigned to them. Stephen looked forward and took a deep breath. He reached with his left hand and grabbed Natsu's shoulder startling him. He looked and saw the serious look in the American's eyes and nodded. He reached up to grab Lucy's shoulder who realized what he was doing and did the same to Lisanna, then Grey all the way up to Erza. The gesture was simple. 'We stand together.'

A few moments later, the refs motioned them to head out. As the Magnolia team took the field, they could feel the energy of the entire stadium. Almost all of them cheering loudly for the home side as they took the field opposite them. They lined up on the side of their bench to allow the crowd to see them fully for the first time. Then they were directed to shake hands with the refs and their opponents before posing for a picture.

Erza gathered them for a huddle. "Do not let them intimidate you, play our game, do not play theirs. Who are we!?"

"MAGNOLIA CITY!" They cheered and headed to their positions. They had lost the coin toss and lined up in their positions around the circle.

John: Barcelona ready with the ball, Messi and Suraez ready to get this game under way. (Whistle) And here we go from Camp Nou. Sureaz takes passes it to Ferdinand and Fullbuster intercepts. Passes it to Strauss! That will get confusing. Hits it up field to Scarlet! City looking to make a statement early. Decatur gets it! Flag is up!

Chase: They are clearly looking to set the pace early. Many of them are young and have a lot of energy to burn! Barcelona needs to be careful of underestimating City.

The next few minutes was back and forth. The pregame plan was making sure Sureaz and Messi were contained forcing them to make plays. In theory, it would work because it would make some of Barcelona's midfielders stay back. City's Midfield despite the perceived weaknesses knew who they would focus on, Erza. This left Grey and Lucy the wing midfielders to help Natsu and Stephen move up. Despite this, they could only manage two more shots on goal, one that was pushed away for a corner, the other being deflected away by one of the defenders.

But poking a dragon could only continue for so long before it struck back and it did at the 20 minute mark. Barcelona got the ball away from Natsu and began their attack on the net. Messi was charging up bench side when he saw Lisanna moving to stop him and smirked. With a couple of steps of fancy foot work, he spun around bringing the ball with him. Lisanna was completely lost as he made a fool out of her. He sped towards along the sideline, Mira, Gajeel and Freed crashing in on him He stopped the ball, and then poked it pass the three leaving him wide open to get to the goal. Alzack tried to stop but he pulled an inside out move and then sent it straight at the bottom corner. Elfman was one the largest goalies in the Champion's League, but the speed and precision the shot had put it just between his hand and the goal.

John: Barcelona should be proud of all they accomplished. Messi takes it, down the side. Pokes it through Three Defenders! Still got the ball! Wrap Around! SHOOTS AND IN! (Crowd's roar is deafening) What a sensational goal by Messi. He is truly one of the best in the world!"

Chase: (Replay begins) What the heck is this goal? This shouldn't have been possible! How close was it to hitting the post? This man is amazing!"

On the field as Barcelona celebrated, Magnolia City was in disbelief, and in Elfman's case, in a furious rant.

Stephen had to shake his head as he covered his face. "Anyone…Anyone get how the heck that happened? Forget it! Come on guys!" He called out moving up to the circle. He turned to see the team shaken up. "We got 70 minutes left and we are down by one score, don't give up yet!"

"He's right! Guys snap out of it and let's get our heads in the game!" Erza barked.

Barcelona 1-0 Magnolia City

Messi III 21' (BAR)

They snapped out of their shakes and got into position. Stephen took the ball with Natsu and they restarted the game. But unlike before where Magnolia City had the momentum, Barcelona was the one pressing their attack. This expose the weakness in the midfield; other than Erza, they weren't physically strong. Though they drew some fouls, the relentless attacks were going break through the defense. And it did in the 35th minute. Erza drew a non-card foul that set up a free kick. Raymundo set up the kick and launched it into the box. Suarez, who was supposed to be watched by Grey and Gajeel broke through and headed the ball past Elfman, getting the taller man to slam the ground in frustration.

John: Raymundo, setting up the kick from about 25 yards out (Whistle) Here he goes. Sends over the wall and to Suarez and IN! A beautiful set piece for Barcelona and its 2-0 for the home team!

Chase: Suarez got away from the defenders and he timed his run perfectly to send it into the back of the net. And now City needs to hang on for half time otherwise, this is going to be a blowout.

That mindset was clearly in the Fairies eyes as they felt their spirits almost crushed.

Barcelona 2-0 Magnolia City

Messi III 21' (BAR)

Suarez 35' (BAR)

After the ball was put back in play, Barcelona was content to waiting out the remaining minutes. Magnolia City was willing to do the same. As the first half extra time rolled around, another Barcelona shot went wide setting up a goal kick for Elfman. As he set up he ball to send it away he looked downfield and suddenly a memory of training came to him.

 _Flashback before the FC Crocus game_

 _Elfman was doing his routine in blocking shots for training. Stephen watched off to the sight, taking note of his feet placement. After his reps, the American approached him. "Hey Elfman, can you do an experiment for me?"_

 _The tall man blinked. "Uh, sure? What kind?"_

" _I know some soccer players that became NFL kickers. I want to test your leg strength," he said._

 _Elfman confused nodded and Stephen asked a few other players to help him. He placed seven balls in front of Elfman on the edge of the 18 yard box._

" _Alright. All you have to do is kick it as hard as you can. The others will mark the landing spots," he explained._

 _Elman nodded and then lined up. He ran up and kicked it. The ball sailed over the field and landed in the middle of the other 18 yard box where Lucy proceeded to stand. The next six shots were the same and at the end of it, most of the shots were in or at the box. One was close to the goal keepers' box._

" _Nice. Thanks, this is something we could pull one day. Just keep it in your back pocket."_

 _End Flashback_

Elfman looked down and then back up and nodded before stepping back. At midfield, Stephen and Natsu saw Elfman nodding. Stephen widened his eyes and pointed at Natsu without looking. "Keep an eye out on the ref!" He ordered. Natsu saw the flag man a bit behind where he stood, so he gave it an extra step with Stephen following suit. Erza glanced behind her to see their movement. She moved up as well forcing the opposing midfielders to move up as well. Elfman took a deep breath and then marched up to the ball and launched it.

While most of the fans and even the Barcelona team thought it was going long, Stephen and Natsu knew that Elfman could get it pretty far without the wind to help him. That's why on contact, they slowly backed up. Once it was over everyone's heads, they turned around and sprinted towards it. The ball came down and it looked like the keeper was going to catch it at the edge of the box. The goal keeper however was trapped because if he didn't time it right, he would get a hand ball which would set up a free kick at the edge of the box. He also couldn't go after the two because he would be wide open for someone behind them to get the ball, or worse get carded and concede a penalty kick. Instead he tried to discourage them by moving up to try and get them offside. The ball, however sailed over his head, Stephen was right there as the ball landed, behind the keeper and hit probably his first highlight reel goal. He didn't even care the crowd was quiet as he played his invisible guitar.

John: Elfman taking the goal kick. Lines up and hits a rocket over the midfield! Over the back line! Over the charging Goalkeeper and Decatur one-times it and IN! Flag is down! (Crowd is stunned into silence) A goal for the Highlight Reel quiets the crowd here at Camp Nou!

Chase: (Replays) this is more believable than the Messi goal but still insane! Elfman's size is definitely not for show as he launches an NFL quality kick right over everyone and right into Decatur's feet! (Another replay focusing on the flag man) And they are onside. That was amazing! And a great momentum booster for Magnolia as the whistle blows for halftime.

Barcelona 2-1 Magnolia City

Messi III 21' (BAR)

Suarez 35' (BAR)

Decatur 45 +2' (MAGC)

On the field, Magnolia City was in higher spirits as the jogged to the locker room. Stephen moved over to Elfman who had a giant smile on his face.

"Great shot man, that was amazing!"

Elfman rubbed his head. "It was nothing. It was a manly thing to motivate our team.

"You know what else is manly? Making sure nothing gets by you in the second half!" Stephen challenged.

Elfman pounded his chest. "You got it!"

They walked into the tunnel and noticed one of the reporters flagging him down.

"Excuse me, the network wants to talk to you to get your thoughts on the half?" The female reporter asked.

"Okay, Elfman go on ahead and tell Coach Clive where I am." The goalkeeper nodded and headed towards the locker room. Stephen adjusted his shirt as the reporter waited for the signal to interview him.

At the cameraman's nod, she began. "Thanks John. Stephen, what are your feelings about how this game has gone.

Stephen: Well, until the last couple of minutes I thought we weren't playing to what we should be able to. Have to give Barcelona credit, they are good. Still wrapping my head around that goal from Messi, no wonder he's the best player in the world.

Reporter: Speaking of goals, that goal at the end of the half, what was going through your mind?

Stephen: That I had confidence in my goalkeeper's strength. The fact Barcelona underestimated it cost them. I doubt many keepers could pull what he did without the wind.

Reporter: That was an impressive goal and impressive amount of trust in your goalkeeper.

Stephen: This team is a family and in a family it takes trust. That trust was rewarded this time.

Reporter: Thank you.

Stephen: No problem.

Once the cameras stopped he was let go to head back into the locker room. A few minutes later, the team came back out with a lot more energy and enthusiasm. Magnolia City would start with the ball with momentum on their side. Taking the ball again, Stephen dumped it to Lisanna who took it and danced around the midfielders before sending to Lucy who tried to send it into the box only to be kicked away.

The energy City showed slowly wore down the Barcelona defense but with their considerable skill they still kept up with their youthful opponents. But their wearing down eventually made them commit a mistake. Around the 62nd minute as Lucy was heading towards the far line, Suarez charged at her and slid into her legs flipping her onto her back. The ref saw this and marched over to him holding up both the yellow and red cards. Suarez was already sitting on a yellow for a tackle against Mira earlier. This would be his second and that meant Barcelona would be playing with 10 men the rest of the way.

Natsu who had been on the far side of the field saw Lucy go down and he was about to go punch the Barcelona midfielder before Stephen grabbed his shoulder to keep him composed. Erza had to lay down the law as well, as Lisanna rushed over to Lucy.

"My god Lucy, are you alright?"

"Yeah…ow, this is gonna leave a mark," Lucy winced.

Levy was already on the ground to see if she needed help. "Do you need to come out?"

Lucy looked at Natsu who looked ready to tear someone's head off. "No, it's a bruise I can walk."

Levy nodded and the two girls helped her up.

Booth

John: Heartfillia up the far side, Suarez charges and Heartfillia is down! Ref is marching over, he's got the cards, and Barcelona is falling apart as they will have to go the rest of the way on 10 men! Suarez is getting the boot!

Chase: Dragneel is furious and rightfully so. Decatur is holding him back and Scarlet is keeping order. Heartfillia is being helped up by the staff and she is gonna stay in the game.

John: Tempers have cooled as Scarlet sets up the free kick. It's about 25 yards out. If the goal keeper can go 70, surely the captain can do it from this distance. (Whistle) There's the whistle. Scarlet steps up, kicks it over the wall AND IN! What a great goal by the captain and in the most unlikely of circumstances, it's even at 2 a piece here at Barcelona with a stunned silent crowd!

Chase: She puts enough leg to get it over the wall and just enough spin to make it turn back away from the keeper and just like that its 2 all.

Barcelona 2-2 Magnolia City

Messi III 21' (BAR)

Suarez 35' (BAR)

Decatur 45 +2' (MAGC)

Scarlet 65' (MAGC)

(Barcelona playing with 10 Men. Suarez second Yellow 63')

On the field Lucy was the first one to reach Erza and hugged her with Natsu and Grey jumping on. A short bit of celebrating later they were back in the center of the field. Barcelona kicked off and for the next ten minutes they tried their best to break through the defense. One of the things in the First Saint League that Barcelona was finding out was that Elfman didn't see a lot of shots, because of the back four in front of him. Having seen what Messi could do when uncontested, they had Erza and Gajeel keep him contained, while Lisanna and Grey kept Raymundo contained. With an extra man, Natsu and Stephen were free to help any of the fronts. At the 80th minute both sides started to slow down as subs for both sides came in. Lucy finally relented and came off for Cana, while one of the Barcelona defenders had subbed off as well.

At this point, to the unaided eye, both sides were playing for the draw. Who could blame them, Magnolia was level with Barcelona and if they played smart they would get a point in the standings. Meanwhile, with 10 men on the home side, if Barcelona made a move and they did it wrong, they would lose the game.

In reality, Magnolia was setting up to win. Stephen had jogged over to Erza during Lucy's sub and outlined a plan. Taking a page from the NFL playbook, they were going to stall and make sure that when the end of the game drew near, they would poised to control the end. If all went according to plan, they would have the final shots of the game.

Erza was skeptical but went with it and made to sure the rest knew about the plan. As the full time neared and the board showed 4 more minutes, Elfman got the ball after it had sailed past him and over the net. Erza moved up to greet the goalkeeper and got it. She turned around to see Stephen had dropped back and she passed it up field. Getting the ball, he moved his hand and pointed at Cana and Lisanna and had them cross in front of him. Coming from different directions he passed it between the two, confusing some of the front line. Messi wasn't fooled and followed Lisanna who had the ball. Like against Oshibanna Town, she led the best player in the world towards the sideline before kicking it back onto Gajeel's feet.

Booth

John: Redfox takes the ball. Magnolia is playing the cup game with the ball, this is extremely risky! He takes it kicks it up to Mira who dumps it to Erza, she's been on full cylinders since she got the ball. She passes it to Alberona who is past Raymundo! She kicks to Connell, he does some fancy footwork. Kicks it back to Bickslow who is coming up behind them! He gives it to Fullbuster who pass up to Dragneel! Flag is down! Dragneel shoots AND SCORES!" (The crowd is dead silent as the celebration began.) That was the perfect clinic of how to score a goal with every member of team contributing to a score and with two minutes left in extra time, Magnolia City is poised for the upset.

Chase: (Replay shows the end result) The assist for this goal is gonna be Fullbuster and Connell, but all 11 played a part in this goal. (Back to Elfman) It all started with Elfman who gave it to the captain. She gave it to Decatur and it turned into a cup game as they used the fact Barcelona had ten people and the end result was a goal by the charismatic forward Dragneel. (Camera cuts to Natsu celebrating with Stephen, Lisanna and Erza piling onto him.) A celebration well earned.

Barcelona 2-3 Magnolia City

Messi III 21' (BAR)

Suarez 35' (BAR)

Decatur 45 +2' (MAGC)

Scarlet 65' (MAGC)

Dragneel 90+3 (MAGC)

Barcelona took the kickoff and tried one more time to get it towards the Magnolia City net but Cana was able to get it away and the final whistle blew, setting off a massive celebration on the Magnolia City bench. The silent crowd watched as their team walked off dejected. The team jogged over to where their supporters were and acknowledged them with a raucous cheer.

With an unbelievable win against FC Barcelona, Magnolia City looks to carry the momentum into their domestic league game against Oak Town. How will they do? Find out as the Season continues.

 **END OF CHAPTER**

 **UO: God Damn this took forever. Anyway Happy Super Bowl Sunday**

 **Teams:**

 **FC Barcelona: If you don't know them, you live under a rock. They are one of the best teams in the word and is as of this writing the champion of Spain's La Liga. They have as of 2016 24 domestic titles, 28 Copa Del Rey, Spain's domestic cup tournament and Five Champion's League titles. They are also the only team to pull off a Continental Treble twice, which is winning two Domestic titles and the Champion's league. Their rivalry with Real Madrid, known as El Classico is legendary on par with MLB's Yankee-Red Sox and the NFL's New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys for the hatedom between the two sides. This is because Madrid represents the Spanish crown and Barcelona represents Catalonia which is a state that wants to leave Spain. Its not like any other country has that problem. *glares at Scotland and California***

 **Preview: With their trip abroad over, the focus is now on the dangerous Oak Town. But a dangerous encounter leaves City potentially shorthanded. Can Magnolia City keep up their momentum? Find out.**

 **Next Time: Crush of the Phantom: Oaktown V. Magnolia City**

 **Next Update is Nakama United**

 **Please Review Kindly. Also check out my pals, Lalapie203, Spartan719, Code-Emperor07, Kurogane 7, Soleneus, Soulsilverlord, Vanishing Raptor, Kage Bijuu, Giratina Zero EvashinobiKaiserKnight Kamen Rider Super-Fan and NorthSouthGorem. I help on a lot of their works. Also call me out on mistakes.**

 **One last thing, I have a Forum to discuss future ideas. Its on the Writer's United Forum under UnitedOsprey1991 ideas and discussions.**

 **OSPREY...SWOOOSH**


	6. The Phantom crush: Magnolia vs Oak Town

**OSPREY…SWOOOSH**

 **UO: Well that was a quick turn-around. (Sees set destroyed) Whoops, too much on the explosions from the Manor.**

 **Lucy: You think?**

 **Stephen: Reminds me of a Michael Bay film**

 **UO: Yeah, guess it was too much. Worth it.**

 **Stephen: Agreed**

 **UO: Everyone here?**

 **Erza: Yes let's go!**

 **UO: Alright.** **I don't own Fairy Tail or Soccer or anything he mentions. I only own the plot and my OCs**

Normal text: Speaking or normal talking

Person's name followed by a colon: In-game announcer

 _"Quotes and Italics: Conversation over phones, T.V and computers._

' _Apostrophe and Italics': Thoughts_

 **Bold: Yelling**

Underline: Location and Time in match

Chapter 6: The Crush of the Phantom: Magnolia City Vs Oak Town

September 24th, After the Barcelona game

When we last left Magnolia City, they had stunned one of the biggest giants in Europe with a 3-2 comeback thanks to goals by Stephen, Natsu and Erza. This left the 105,000 seat stadium dead quiet leaving the stadium as Magnolia City celebrated.

After the game had ended, the three goal scorers were invited to the sideline for an interview with the American broadcasters before they headed back to their hotel. While Stephen was composed, despite not liking going out in public, was used to speaking in front of crowds, Erza was shaking in her seat.

"Erza what's up, you're normally not like this?" Stephen asked her as his mic was adjusted onto his shirt.

"I-I'm fine playing, o-on the field, w-where no one can talk to you. B-but this is the United States. 290 million people could watch this!" She stuttered. (Remember this world had huge glacial floods so population drop is expected.)

"Yeah, that's pretty big considering. But I'm pretty sure after this, and the highlights that are gonna show up on Sportscenter, I think we're gonna get some fans. Bet my phone's already blowing up with tweets and we're trending right now." Stephen said not noticing the red head's pale. When he did, he waved his hands. "Sorry. But honestly relax, you're our captain. If you don't want to speak as much, let me know and I'll translate for you."

Erza nodded relieved at that offer. Natsu wrapped an arm around her. "We're gonna do great Erza, let's show them we mean business!"

"Alright we are on in 5…4…3…2…1!" A tech guy told them. Then a video showed their highlights as the commentators tried to break it down.

" _Extra time in the first half, Elfman Strauss the goalkeeper lines up a kick. and sends an NFL quality kick past everyone except his two strikers. Goes over the head of the keeper to Stephen Decatur who one times it and gets it in. 2-1 at the half and you get the sense if you are a Magnolia fan, something special was gonna happen. Second half, 65_ _th_ _minute, Suarez goes in hard on Heartfillia and she goes down drawing his second yellow."_

" _There was no reason for him to do that, and at that point, it looked like Barcelona had lost control of the game._

" _Erza Scarlet takes the free kick and bends it like Beckham and in. 2 all with 23 minutes left."_

Erza blushed when she saw them praise the shot. The two boy patted her shoulders smiling at her reaction.

" _Two minutes into the last extra time , Elfman gets the ball and watch the ball pinball all the way up the field. Everyone gets the ball and Natsu Dragneel, their striker sends it home and Magnolia City, upsets Barcelona!"_

Then the highlights switched to a brief bio of the team. _"So who are Magnolia City? They are based out of Fiore, one of three teams in Magnolia. They were founded in 1920 and were one of the first teams to allow women to play with the men. Their nickname is the Fairies after a legend that said fairies used to gather at the spot where the team was founded. They haven't been in the Champion's Leagues since the Floods, but that hasn't stopped them. Average age of the team this year is 24, so many of these players look like they will stick around a long time."_

" _We are now joined by the three heroes for the team of the hour. Stephen Decatur, Erza Scarlet and Natsu Dragneel. Gentleman, Ms. Scarlet, welcome."_

The three greeted the commentators. _"First question is to Stephen. Steve, what was going through your mind when Elfman launched that kick?"_

Stephen smiled. "Well, I went up to Elfman before the game prior to this to see if he could kick it that far and to see if we could incorporate it. Suffice to say he could. I had three thoughts: staying onside, wondering where the ball was going to land and whether or not Barcelona was going to bite and not come after us. I told Natsu to watch the ref and when the shot came, well, that shot is going on Sportscenter I feel," He finished laughing at the end.

" _I bet. Now Erza, how does it feel to be the captain of such a fun group of men and women. Your team looks like they're having a blast!"_

Erza felt hands on her legs, and felt relief flood through her. "Its tough, cause we have so many vibrant personalities," She said in broken English. "But many of us have been together for years, so we not only know we work, but also how we play. Stephen and Lucy our off season signings have fit in perfectly with us. Stephen especially since our opening day striker Laxus went down."

" _16 goals scored vs 5 allowed in all competitions this year including the playoff series against Juventus. Now Natsu, do you think you have a shot at going far in the Champion's League?"_

"Heck yeah! If we can beat teams like Barcelona, we definitely have a shot against the rest of Europe! With the way our team is going, it will be hard to stop us in Fiore and in Europe!"

Stephen and Erza smiled at his enthusiasm as the commentators laughed at the energy. The American chimed. "You should see him at game time," which set off more laughter.

" _Alright then, we're gonna keep an eye on the rest of the campaign. Good luck you three!"_

The three thanked the host and the camera stop recording. Thanking the crew, they headed to the locker room. Going inside, they could see the mood was jubilant as they welcomed them in. Gildarts chuckled, then whistled. "Alright, just want to say a few words before we get back on the bus. This victory, was a team effort up and down the field. Don't let this victory blind you to the rest of the season. Now that they know we can play with the big boys, they will be bringing their A game. We need to keep our heads together! Who Are WE?"

"MAGNOLIA CITY!"

"That's Right! Now then, get yourselves dressed and get on the bus. The crowd should be cooled off by now!" He headed out, still giddy about the win. As they got dressed, Lucy rubbed her ankle. "Damn, that Suarez can kick."

"You okay Luce?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, just this damn ankle is killing me," she complained rubbing her taped ankle. "Hopefully I'll be able to play Monday." She looked away. "I just wish I contributed more."

Natsu patted her shoulder then wrapped an arm around her. "You did fine, Luce. Sure you couldn't compete the whole way, but I bet you were cheering the loudest after that goal!"

The blonde giggled. "I bet, especially since the whole crowd was dead silent."

Erza walked over to the two. "Natsu's right, you don't have to be in every play. My biggest concern is making sure your foot heals. We're gonna make sure you take it easy for the next day or so and then reevaluate you back in Magnolia."

"And if your foot can't heal, I can cover ya until your back on your feet!" Cana declared.

Lucy teared up at the support. She really did make the right choice joining this team. The two heroes helped her up and she was escorted back to the bus. Meanwhile Stephen was finishing packing his bag after he did his interview. Lisanna walked over as he stood up, already packed. "Hey, how was the interview?"

"It was great. First time I did something like that," He replied.

Lisanna nodded and walked with him. As they walked the tunnel, the girl glanced over to him and before he could react, she grabbed his hand. Stephen was startled and looked the white-haired girl's face which had a beaming smile. He looked back ahead and subtly returned the gesture. They walked onto the bus and the victorious team went back to their hotel.

Two Days later (Prepare for the Craziness that is Soviet Womble and the ZF clan)

Stephen was taking a break from League of Legends and decided to play another esports game, Counter-strike. Shooters weren't his forte but he could at least see himself competent at the game. His teammates however…

"Who threw that flashbang? Soviet." He immediately narrowed his eyes at one icon as he got shot up

" _Shut up, the wall was in the way!"_ A British sounding voice snapped back as he was gunned down. This was Soviet Womble, a relatively popular streamer and member of the whacky ZF Clan

"Even Church could throw better and he somehow misses at point blank range."

" _We don't talk about other less popular franchise here in the ZF clan!"_ Soviet declared as a new round started up.

" _Soviet pick up that AWP!"_ An Indian voice demanded

" _What? No, No Cyanide I'm not going to pick that up!"_

Stephen groaned as they broke down into bickering and had to hold his head. After the round unsurprisingly ended in a loss he spoke up. "Why is it that whenever I play with you guys, my brain cells feel like they need to go to the hospital?"

" _Garnet, I know how you feel mate!"_ Soviet sympathized.

" _Soviet~~ Cake is calling me fat!"_

" _I DID NOT!"_ A cute Russian voice screeched.

" _You are fat!"_ Soviet responded.

Cyanide screeched and temporarily disconnected. A fourth male voice chimed in. _"Did he AFK or eat the microphone!"_ The icon showed his name was Edburg.

Stephen groaned, not helping was Natsu laughing his pants off. "Knowing him probably both. And now I have to not only deal with you idiots and Miss Cake, but I got my roommate laughing in my ear.

" _Oh yeah, your over in Fiore right? For those that don't know, Garnet is a pro soccer player from the U.S and he is playing where?"_

"Magnolia City. We just got back from Barcelona."

"… _Wait, didn't Magnolia City beat Barcelona this week?"_ Edburg asked.

" _Fuck, they did!"_ Soviet replied. _"Fuck they got me!"_ He yelled getting shot up.

" _Why can't you bring some of that juju to our games?"_ Cyanide asked.

"Is Friendly Fire on?" Stephen asked. When he got an affirmative, he took out his pistol and executed Cyanide. _"Motherfucker! I meant Good juju! Not BAD Juju!_

"That's what you get for being an idiot." He looked at the top of the screen and swore. "Didn't think this through!" Fortunately he was playing on the terrorist side as they hadn't switched sides yet. He snuck around and using the sniper rifle, picked off two of the remaining opponents, before getting swiped from behind.

"Damn almost had it."

" _Motherfucker, you shot me!"_ Cyanide screamed.

"Don't you start with me you team killing curry eater!"

" _Shots fired!"_ Soviet chimed in.

" _Curry eater!? Your half Hindu as well idiot!"_

"Yeah my other half is hot blooded American! Much like my roommate here!"

" _Your roommate?"_ Soviet asked.

"Yeah. Cause our team has a bonding thing going, I'm bunked with my fellow forward Natsu Dragneel," He replied disconnecting the speaker allowing Natsu to step in before the round started up again.

"Hi there!"

" _Hello!"_ Chimed in everyone.

" _So what's it like scoring against the best team in the world? My chat is going nuts to meet a minor celebrity!"_

"Celebrity huh? Yeah I can tell you its going crazy. But we can't let that get to our heads," Natsu told them.

"Well people seem to think I am one, especially back in the states. My twitter feed is blowing up!" Stephen asked.

" _It's nice and all but can we concentrate on the game. Soviet and Cyanide I expect this, Garnet seriously get your head in the game!"_

"We'll talk more in the next lobby," Stephen conceded. After a few more rounds, unsurprisingly the team lost. As they went through their stats, Soviet chimed in.

" _Did I level up? It says I'm a Distinguished Master Guardian."_

Stephen gulped and snapped his head over to Natsu. "Cover your ears!" Natsu quickly did so as the player tried to lower the volume.

" _FUUUUUCKKKKKKK!"_ Mount Cyanide erupted as he went into a rant about Soviet's skill.

Stephen sighed and dropped his head to his desk. "What a way to spend Friday night." He told himself.

Oaktown stadium office that night

While Magnolia City basked in their unexpected spotlight, one team owner was not enjoying their success. Jose Porla, the dark haired owner of Oak Town FC, was furious at what he believed should have been their moment of glory. Last year, Oak Town finished 4th, missing out on the Champion's League on goal difference to Magnolia City. As a result, his team was sent into the Europa League, the second tier less prestigious European league. Oak Town had just come back from their qualifying game to the next stage in against Portugal's Rio Ava reeling from being eliminated from the tournament outright.

He glared at the highlight video, particularly goal by Stephen as he nailed the shot behind the keeper than shut it off. "Damn Fairies. They don't deserve that success!" He reached over to his phone and punched in a number. Unknown to most in the league, he had a side business in that it dealt with some shady things. And he held a large grudge against Magnolia City, especially after they pinched one of his best players Gajeel Redfox and moved him from striker to back. If they wanted a back so bad, they could deal with one less player to the squad.

"This is Jose. I have a mission for you." He told the person on the line. A few moments of negotiations later, he ended the call, his smile taking on a slasher like appearance.

Sunday September 30th 9:00AM

A loud knocking on the door startled Stephen out of his sleep. He was up late watching one of the last rounds of the group stage of the League of Legends Worlds. He was happy to see that two of the American teams, TSM and CLG made it to the knockout rounds with one more group left to be. Then he watched Florida State beat Clemson, which due to the time difference meant it was three in the morning before he went to sleep. "Damn it, whoever that is better have a good reason to get us up on a non-game Sunday!" He grumbled as he rolled out of bed and slipped on his shorts.

The knocking became louder as he stepped into the living room. He heard Natsu's door open and he saw him rubbing his eyes. Another slam on the door finally got him to respond. "Alright! Keep your Shorts on!" He stomped over to the door and opened it revealing Erza with a very stern face. "What's going that you couldn't wait until…I don't know Lunch for? Especially on a Sunday. And before you say anything, it was a Saturday night and what I wanted to watch was on late due to the time difference!"

Erza was having none of his grumblings. "First off, you need a better sleep schedule. Second, I just got informed that two of our teammates were in the hospital!"

That woke up both boys. "What the heck happened?" Natsu demanded.

"It was Jet and Droy. They were on their way home and they nearly got run over. Jet dislocated his ankle and Droy broke his wrist," She explained.

Natsu growled and slammed his hands against the door frame. "Damn it, that means we need to bring up two new subs for our roster. Who's gonna replace them?"

"At the moment, Romeo will be the fourth striker sub until Laxus is healthy. As for defender, we are discussing other options. That is all," She told them as she walked away to the next dorm.

Stephen closed the door and sighed. "If they weren't dying Erza didn't have to wake us up."

"She's always like that with a lot of things. But you could be a bit more sympathetic," Natsu replied.

"I am. Trust me, I don't like to wear my emotions on my sleeve 24/7 like you. If it makes ya feel better we can go visit them if they are still in the hospital," the American told him. "Though Erza makes a good point, when Laxus gets healthy, there is gonna be a problem especially with our success. Romeo's spot might be temporary."

"At this point, Laxus might be the one looking in," Natsu responded. "He was a dick before you came along. Then he got hurt and now you're one of the faces of our team."

"Heh, guess you're right. I'm like Tom Brady," Stephen conceded.

"Who?"

"Ah yes. Well in the pre flood days where the NFL still had its popularity, Tom Brady was a legendary quarterback, He was drafted 199th, the 6th one drafted that year. He was behind another QB named Drew Bledsoe. Bledsoe took a near fatal hit the year after that draft. Brady stepped in and never looked back. He won five rings and set all sorts of records. My situations is almost like that, but I don't have the rings."

"Well, let's hope we don't have to worry about you getting hurt like that. Come on, we should at least say hello to the two of them. They might be back by now."

Stephen nodded and they went and got dressed. Heading down the hall, they reached where the two injured players were and went in. They found the two propped up on pillows, casts on their arms and ankles respectively. Levy was cooking some breakfast with Lucy when the two boys entered.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Natsu asked.

The orange head speedster spoke first. "Doing alright with a dislocated ankle. But man when I see the guy that ran us over I'm gonna give them a piece of our mine."

"So what happened?" Stephen asked.

"We don't know," Droy answered. "We were on our way back from one of the local bars, talking about stuff. We cross the street and this car must have ran the stoplight cause next thing I knew I was on the ground holding my hand. Damn I should lose some weight," He grumbled.

"I'm gonna assume you didn't get the license plate," Stephen concluded. "Anything that stood out?"

Jet snapped his fingers on his good hand. "Yeah. It was a black sports car. Probably a Martin or Jaguar. Didn't have the same engine sound as a Porsche or Ferrari."

Stephen raised an eyebrow impressed. "Didn't take ya for a car guy."

"I've always had a thing for speed. Fast cars, fast runners, you name it," the brown haired man grinned.

Levy brought over the soup. "Now then boys, you should be concentrating on getting better!"

The boy's attitudes lifted and started clamoring for her attention. Satisfied they would be okay, the boys left and headed down to the dining hall.

"So Jet and Droy are gonna be okay. But damn we're gonna have to rely on our academy call ups."

Stephen rubbed his chin. "Something about that doesn't make sense. Most of this side of town wouldn't have a sports car, much less a British model."

"Your being paranoid. Are you saying someone has it out for us?" Natsu asked.

"It wouldn't be the first time a team was attacked near their game against Oak Town," Gajeel's voice called.

"What do you mean metal face?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Remember I was a Phantom before Makarov poached me during last year's trade window. I've been more than aware of a few incidents that happened before their games."

Stephen hummed as he crossed his arms. "Reminds me of the rumors surrounding the Souske Limited Racing team. They supposedly have ties to the Underworld and have been responsible for a few high-profile deaths including Kaien Shiba."

"Well the rumors aren't unfounded," Gajeel grumbled. "Let me tell ya star boy, the First Saint League is in a bit of a cold war. Due to the longevity of some of the teams in the league, it can be divided into four factions. There is the side with Magnolia City, Mermaid Scale, Pegasus, Polaris and Cerberus who are known for their more honorable play and willing to advance the league to keep up with the rest of the continent. Then there is the side with Babylon, Black Cube, Oak Town, Alverez, Oracion, Tenrou and Bosco whose fans and players give our league a bad reputation. They want to make sure our league can't shine like its supposed. Then there is the side that wants to form a break away league, which is led by Magnolia United Veronica and the two Crocus teams. Then there are the neutral parties, which this year are Hargeon, Oshibanna, Alcpytha and Southtown,. The way our league has worked is whichever faction has won the league dictates the policy," He explained

"With Magnolia United winning the last couple of years, they've extended their influence to get enough support for a Premier League like format. Each faction competes for players, money and even fans. Magnolia is a current hot bed because they have two of the leaders of the three main factions plus Veronica has the money to push around. It would not be surprising if members of the other two factions use dirty tricks to attack players on and off the field."

"What the? Why the heck is UEFA doing not investigating this?" Stephen grumbled.

"UEFA doesn't care about the so called smaller leagues," Gajeel countered. "That's how they are getting away with a lot of this. Even the Fiore Federation hasn't had a lot of success rooting out the corruption!"

Stephen looked away. "Then…I'm gonna make sure the system gets cleaned up. I ain't gonna let corruption like what happened in my country happen here."

Natsu looked confused, but Gajeel kind of did. The U.S nearly fell to a series of weak and misguided presidents that focused less on their country and more on social correctness. When the Floods came, that influence was nipped in the bud as a strong military commander had to enforce martial law to keep the country from falling apart. When they came of their self-imposed isolation, the country had made a statement when they intervened in the Islamic Civil War. Now they were back into a stage of respect, one of the few countries not adversely impacted by the Flooding.

(Look up Bleach Grand Prix Chapter 16 for what I'm talking about)

"Good luck with that, you're a 21 year old American who streams when he's not playing," Gajeel challenged.

"And that's why I can sneak under the radar. Because of me being a foreigner, no one would suspect that I'm looking into how far this league has been corrupted."

Natsu was bouncing on his feet. "Sweet, so we can bust some heads?"

"Maybe. But this needs to be need to know. Both of you blab this to Makarov, I will deny everything," Stephen ordered.

"So what's first kid?" Gajeel asked.

"Not sure. But the easiest way to fix a game is either through the refs or fixing the betting," Stephen replied already on his phone. He looked up the betting line to the next game. "Looks like they want Oak Town to win and has an over under of 3. For some reason, we are seen as huge underdogs. Gonna have to look at who put money on Oak Town."

"Your not going to do this all by yourself!" The defender growled. "I still got contacts in the underground, I can see if they find anything."

Stephen nodded. "Good. Now come on I'm starving."

"Took the words right out of my mouth!" Natsu cheered as they headed off to the cafeteria.

Next Day, Five Hours before game time

Gildarts stood in front of the gathered team. They were shaking in their seats, anticipating their match later.

"Okay everyone, I know your anxious to get going against Oak Town…"

"We're gonna kick those Phantom's Ass!" Natsu declared.

"Sit down and Shut up Natsu!" Gildarts ordered. Once everyone is calmed down, he pulled up the slides. "Oak Town may only have two wins out of 4 but they aren't to be underestimated. They the 4-4-2 focused around the strikers and the Center Midfielders, collectively known As the Elemental 4." He changed the slide to show the two forwards first showing a Japanese looking man. "Their main striker is Totomaru, he currently has three of the six goals scored. He's fast but against a bulkier back line like Polaris, he can be stopped due to the size discrepancy. Gajeel, Mira, you two have the aggressiveness to counter this.

"Trust me coach, I know Totomaru, we can handle him!" Gajeel boasted.

"Good! Moving on next we have this beauty," He pulled up a picture of a blue haire woman with a serious look. "This is one of Center Midfielders, Juvia Loxar. She is not afraid to harass her opponent and can easily draw fouls because of she can go down easily." Changing the slides, the new picture showed a mousey face and green hair. "This is Sol. This French men supposedly could get inside your head. But he's gone up against some very hard to break forwards, Kagura of Mermaid Scale being one of them. In the instances he could he actually was able to shatter the person's confidence and he's been able to set up scores and even get a goal himself."

He pulled up one last picture. This one showed a large tan man wearing with dark glasses. "This is Aria. He's the captain and responsible for the rest of Oak Town's goals. But he's also not afraid to be aggressive. Based on the number of cards he's gotten, he's one card away from a one-game suspension. Don't be careless with any of them. They are all aggressive but are prone to making mistakes. Just play your game!" Gildarts ordered.

He got voices of agreement. "One last thing, with Jet and Droy out we are promoting two people up. The first is Romeo Conbolt, who will be a back-up forward."

Natsu cheered and turned to the dark haired young boy. At 17 he was the youngest currently contracted to Magnolia City, but he was eager to follow in his idol Natsu's footsteps.

"And our back up defender is we need it will be Laki Olettta.""

Stephen turned towards the back to see a purple haired girl with a red bow waving to the rest of the team.

"Just keep yourselves out of trouble, and we'll get through the next couple of games! Alright go get ready!" He ordered as they all began to shuffle out.

Oak Town Locker Room 60 minutes before kick off

Jose glared across the locker room at his players. "These pathetic Fairies are the toast of the town! If it were up to me they would have never even gotten to the Champion's League! That should have been us beating Barcelona!" He looked over his players. "No matter, we come out today and destroy them. We show the world that their win was a fluke!"

The whole team rallied to his call. He grinned as he remembered the little bet he made on his side. Today was gonna be a good day, he could feel it. He looked at his two most important players, Juvia and Sol. "Do you two remember Gajeel Redfox?"

"You mean that defector? Oui, Monsieur Redfox was part of our plans. But he wanted out, and now he will pay!"

"Juvia believes Gajeel left for selfish reasons. He should be made to pay. First chance Juvia gets, he's going to need a stretcher!" The blue haired girl said sinisterly.

Jose chuckled. "Well then, let's see if we can't put more than Mr. Redfox in the Hospital!"

TV Booth (30 minutes to kick off)

Chimatti: Good Evening Football fans and welcome to the ever immortal Mavis Memorial Stadium. Tonight's match looks like a battle waiting to happen as the Fairies of Magnolia City face the Phantoms of Oak Town. I am Chimatti Lola alongside Jason Thompson. City has been surprising everyone here and abroad Jason and thanks to a surprising upset of Alverez by Oshibanna, they have the opportunity to take sole possession of first as we complete the first full month of the season.

Jason: They are in this position with four wins out of four thanks to the surprising duo of Natsu Dragneel and Stephen Decatur. (Highlights of various plays including their goals in Barcelona.) These two young strikers have clicked so well that they can't do any wrong. Stephen's goal against Barcelona is still being talked about because of his timing and intuition. (Replay of Lisanna's goal against Oshibanna Town) He can read the play so well that he can change his speed on a dime and set up plays.

Chimatti: He is really making himself at home. His roommate and wingman seem to be feeding him the energy the American needs.

Jason: That energy seems to spread into the rest of the team. Whether it be the midfield stepping up and creating plays or the defense keep the ball away from the goal, when these two are in sync, the team seems to follow.

Chamati: One goal allowed in the domestic league and 4 goals allowed total across all competitions, including going into Barcelona and coming back with a 2-3 comeback win.

Jason: These boys and girls of Magnolia City are something else. I know it's early, but I feel something special in these players.

Chamati: Switching gears, Oak Town is not in the form we expected from last year, only having six points from four games.

Jason: And it's not exactly going to get easier. If you're losing games by score lines like they did against Mermaid Scale, they are going to have a bad time against the likes of Magnolia United and Babylon. Part of it could stem from Gajeel Redfox who left during the offseason to City. The forward, who has since converted to a defender with Magnolia City was a key piece of their offense on their way to a fourth place finish last year, losing out on the Champion's League by Goal Difference to Magnolia City. I believe that lack of distinct leadership is costing them tremendously.

Chamati: This means the captain, Aria, has to step up if they want to do well. If they can't contain the Dragon and Eagle at the front of the City line-up, it could be a long day.

Eight minutes before the kickoff, Oak Town departed their locker room. As they entered the field, the boos were deafening. Magnolia City might have been one of the less hostile crowds, but there were three teams they absolutely despised despite the league factionalized. Oak Town was one, Magnolia United and Alverez being the other two. Jose who was watching on the sideline scoffed. "They don't appreciate greatness here," He told his assistants.

The boos quickly turned to cheers as the newsreels began to play and Mavis' sweet voice was heard over the stadium. In the tunnel, Stephen was jumping on his feet. "That crowd's got be all fired up! Let's go!"

"You read my mind!" Natsu grinned as the two roommates pounded their fists. They turned to Lisanna and Lucy and did the same before turning to Grey. "You ready to go stripper!"

"Anytime flame brain!" Grey replied pounding his fists,

"Back in line!" Erza barked and they quickly lined up. At a given signal, Erza began to walk briskly towards the field, her team right behind her. The chorus of the song hit and almost the entire stadium sang as their team took the field. Those not singing were cheering as the players waved to the crowd. Lining up at midfield they posed for their picture before begrudgingly shaking the Oak Town player's hands. As they went down the line, Juvia happened to look up to meet Grey's eyes. Her heart started to hammer wildly. ' _What…is this? Why am I having this reaction to a Fairy?'_

"Madame Juvia? Are you okay?" Sol asked behind her.

Juvia shook her head. "Sorry, lost my focus."

"Keep it together!" Sol told her.

The teams lined up with Oak Town getting the ball first. At the referee's signal, Totomaru kicked it back his team.

Chimatti: Oak Town kicks off and we are underway on crisp Monday Night here in Magnolia. Loxar takes the ball and passes it to Sol, he tries to get it pass his old teammate but he's denied."

Gajeel kicked the ball away and glared at Sol for a moment before jogging up field.

The next few minutes was played mostly in the Oak Town half. As the City lines pushed forward about ten minutes in, Lisanna forced a shot which was blocked by the goal keeper for a corner. Erza went to take it and the rest of the team set up. Juvia was towards the center of the box she backed up and ran into someone. She turned her head and froze at seeing Grey. The black haired midfielder pushed her away to get some space. Juvia didn't bother to follow him and there left a wide gap. A gap Erza could see from her vantage point.

Chamati: Scarlet takes the corner. She lines up and fires it into the center of the box! Right at Fullbuster and he taps it in! (Grey rips off his shirt at the goal as Natsu and Stephen give him high fives) The defense clearly broke down and Fullbuster was open to get the goal.

Jason: This was a breakdown I suppose. Loxar looked like she moved forward and gave Fullbuster too much room. What a crazy breakdown in communication.

Magnolia City 1-0 Oak Town

Fullbuster (MAGC) 11'

Juvia looked down as they reset the ball. She needed to avoid Fullbuster as much as possible. Unfortunately, Erza was not the only one that saw the interaction. Stephen did as well and he jogged over to Grey and Natsu as the ball went out of bounds.

"Grey, I know you don't like to be on the same side as Natsu but I need you to switch with Lucy."

"Why?" Both asked in surprise.

"I saw Loxar get skittish around Grey. She's lined up on your side," Stephen told them as the ball was thrown back in.

Twenty minutes in, Oak Town got a break and Sol was close to the box. Gajeel cursed and charged at him. He slid and got the back of the forward. Sol immediately called for a penalty shot, but the ref deemed it a clean tackle and let play resumed. The Frenchmen turned to Gajeel. "That was a dirty shot, you plebian!" He yelled storming over. Gajeel was ready to deck the man but Elfman's large frame separated the two as other members of both squads tried to separate them.

Chamatti: Oak Town getting a little chippy with their old teammate as City is rewarded with a goal kick.

Jason: It was a clean challenge and Sol looks like he wants to escalate this. They need to calm down if they want to get a goal.

After Elfman kicked it down field, Natsu got it and managed to get it up field. He got even with the box and dumped it to Erza who had two defenders on her. Seeing the Strauss sisters coming up, she kicked it between her pursuers. To her luck, Lisanna got it and the smaller girl touched it. On instinct she the ball and tapped it to her sister allowing Mira to cross up the defenders and take a shot on the goal.

Chimatti: Dragneel takes it up field. He turns, long pass to the captain. She send into the box! Lisanna to Mira! She takes a shot! Saved, gets the Rebound! SCORES! And it's the big sister Mirajane on that goal!

Jason: (Replay) That was great execution for the unofficial second captain of this squad and who sets it up? Her baby sister and they are jubilant over the finish. (Pans over to Elfman) So is their brother.

Chimatti: City gets the ball back, Heartfillia has it all the way down she dumps across the field! Through Decatur's legs! Onto Dragneel AND HE SCORES! 3-0 City and this crowd is electrifying!

Jason: Holy cow just as we got done talking about the Strauss siblings, Heartfillia gets a great assist on this goal, it looked like she wanted to give it to Decatur but that was just as good and this is a disaster for the Phantoms.

Stephen was the first one over to Natsu. He and Lucy met up and gave each other hugs. "Sorry Stephen, I meant to get it to you!"

"No problem! Let's put the dagger in them!" He told her as they headed back to the center.

Less than a minute later, as the replays were still circulating, Totomaru tried to clear the ball away but Natsu was too quick and intercepted it. He passed it up to Stephen who quickly passed it back and fired passed the goal for his second goal in 3 minutes. The American had time to turn around and see it go in, raising his hands like signaling for a touchdown

Chamati: Totomaru tries to clear. Intercepted by Dragneel passes it up to Decatur! Onside! Back to Dragneel AND IN! This is utter humiliation for Oak Town! 4-0 for the Hometown favorites

Jason: What else is there to say? When this team is firing on all cylinders, they are nearly unstoppable. The momentum they had from this past week's game against the juggernauts Barcelona seem to be carrying into this game. What a great finish

Magnolia City 4-0 Oak Town

Fullbuster (MAGC) 11'

Mi. Strauss (MAGC) 23'

Dragneel (MAGC) 24' 26'

On both benches the reactions were polar opposites. On the City bench, Gildarts had to find a place to sit down, all of this excitement was getting to him. Makarov patted him on the shoulder, his enthusiasm just as high. "You did good Gildarts, you should be proud of these kids!"

The taller man laughed. "Oh yeah! If we hold on this celebration is gonna be wild!" He yelled over the crowd's noise.

Over on the Oak Town bench, Jose was nearly apocalyptic with rage. "H…how, are they doing this…they shouldn't have been…no, I can't lose…not with…THEM!" He was unable to get a sentence out as he walked back to his bench. He knew his team was in for a thrashing in the locker room.

Back on the field, the entire Oak Town team was despondent as they struggled to get back into the game mentally. City however continued to push their advantage and not even three minutes later, Erza had the ball again and tore through the line. She passed it up to Lucy who immediately passed it back, getting the defenders to commit to covering her. Erza got it and then sent into the back of the net.

Chamati: Scarlet gets it from Fullbuster. She charges it dumps it to Heartfillia! She sends it back! Are you Kidding me? Its 5-0 as the Captain scores and this crowd can't get any louder!

Jason: Why not? It's the captain on this one and a great charge for the new blonde signing as she is quick on the pass back getting multiple defenders to commit to watching her. And if you have just joined us, that is the right score. Its 5-0 Magnolia City. And the only ones not cheering like crazy are the Oak Town bench.

Magnolia City 5-0 Oak Town

Fullbuster (MAGC) 11'

Mi. Strauss (MAGC) 23'

Dragneel (MAGC) 24' 26'

Scarlet (MAGC) 29'

After that, Magnolia City was content to let the game slow down. Why should they risk their players unnecessarily? They were up 5 goals, their crowds was clearly in the game and most of the Oak Town was demoralized. About 33 minutes in Natsu nearly got himself a Hat trick but the keeper was able to knock it away barely, making the fiery forward pout. Two more attempts to get a goal were thwarted before halftime. At the whistle, City walked off high fiving and laughing at how insane the half was.

In the Oak Town locker room, Jose was tearing it up in rage. "HOW COULD YOU ASSHOLES MESS THIS UP!" He screamed. He paced the room. "We are down five goals and we are being embarrassed like a fifth tier team!"

Aria was bawling like a baby. "Its so sad, City is crushing us and we can't win!"

"SHUT UP!" Jose snapped. He turned to Juvia, who was trying to make herself smaller. "That first goal, what the hell were you thinking!?"

"Juvia just…gave him too much room," She pleaded. "Juvia didn't think Scarlet could see it."

"She's the freaking captain of the team and she's got more goals than most of this team in her career! She would have seen it!" He snarled. He grabbed his head and tried to tear his hair out. "This team is garbage! I will see to it the owners figure out a way to trade all of you!" He stormed out of the locker room, not even looking at the depressed group.

Back out on the field, Magnolia City came out to a raucous cheer as they waved to the fans. By contrast, the Phantoms had none of the pre-game energy. As Magnolia City took the kick, Oak Town seemed content to play more defensively to keep City from scoring more. But at the 69th minute that failed as Lisanna took the ball into the Phantom's box. She got one of the defenders to follow her and hit it towards the middle. Stephen was right where she aimed it and he tapped it in. A brief celebration occurred as Stephen hugged Lisanna thanking her for the goal.

Ten minutes later, Natsu took it down the field and got it near the corners. Gajeel, playing up to get some experience playing forward got it, fighting off a defender. He kicked it back over to Stephen who was charging again. He took a shot and it looked like it was going to hit the crossbar, but it snuck its way underneath the bar to give him two goals and a 7-0 lead for Magnolia.

With the game in hand, City was content in subbing out Natsu with Romeo, to delight of the home crowd as the young man debuted. At the full time mark, Totomaru managed to prevent it from being a shutout but the damage was done as Magnolia City walked off with a 7-1 win.

Magnolia City 7-1 Oak Town

Fullbuster (MAGC) 11'

Mi. Strauss (MAGC) 23'

Dragneel (MAGC) 24' 26'

Scarlet (MAGC) 29'

Decatur (MAGC) 69' 79'

Totomaru (OAK) 90'

Magnolia City's win puts them at the top of the standings. Will they be able to stay? Find out next time as First Saint League continues its campaign

 **END OF CHAPTER**

 **UO: Why do some of these chapters take so long? Might want to look into a co writer. Any soccer fans want to jump in on this feel free to PM me**

 **Teams**

 **Oak Town: Founded in 1923 and has won 15 Top Flight titles and 8 domestic cup titles. Recently rumors have come out that they have been trying to fix games with other teams.**

 **Shield: Phantom Lord's symbol**

 **Kits: Home: Purple shirt, black sleeves and shorts. Away: White Shirt and shorts. Third Kit: Yellow shirt, black shorts.**

 **Standings after five games (Top Five) Tie breakers are Pts, Goal Difference (GD), Goals Scored (GF)**

 **Team. W T L GF GA GD PTS**

 **Magnolia Cit 14 2 +12 15**

 **AFC Alvarez. 4 0 1** **8 3 +5 12**

 **Magnolia Unite +3 10**

 **Oracion Seis F +4 9**

 **FC Bosco 3 0 2. 6 5 +1 9**

 **Preview: As the season wears on, Magnolia's next opponent is Aclypatha Town. Lucy's apprehension over facing her father comes to a head when he comes calling to do something unforgivable. How will Magnolia City respond? Find out**

 **Next time: Father vs Daughter Acylpatha Town Vs Magnolia City**

 **Next Update is Nakama United**

 **Please Review Kindly. Also check out my pals, Lalapie203, Spartan719, Code-Emperor07, Kurogane 7, Soleneus, Soulsilverlord, Vanishing Raptor, Kage Bijuu, Giratina Zero EvashinobiKaiserKnight Kamen Rider Super-Fan and NorthSouthGorem. I help on a lot of their works. Also call me out on mistakes.**

 **One last thing, I have a Forum to discuss future ideas. Its on the Writer's United Forum under UnitedOsprey1991 ideas and discussions.**

 **OSPREY...SWOOOSH**


	7. Father vs Daughter: Acylpaha vs Magnolia

**OSPREY….SWOOOSH**

 **UO: (Looks outside) And that's why MLS doesn't play in the winter like most of the major leagues.**

 **Natsu: Whoa that's a lot of snow!**

 **Stephen: Geez this is as bad those storms back in 2010.**

 **UO: Right (Looks around) Uh where's Grey?**

 **Natsu: Stripper is enjoying the weather. A little too much.**

 **UO: (Watches outside and sees Grey in his underwear like it was a sunny day.) Damn it. Wait (Sees Erza in the buff) Who dared Erza to do that?**

 **Natsu: It was Lucy! Erza was being a terror in a game we were playing!**

 **Lucy: Don't throw me under the bus!**

 **Stephen: Uh…**

 **UO: Someone do the disclaimer, Natsu toss Lucy out there**

 **Lucy: Hell no! (Runs away with Natsu in pursuit)**

 **Stephen: Um, Unitedosprey1991 doesn't own Fairy Tail or any teams mentioned, he only owns this plot and me.**

 **(Lucy's shriek is heard as Natsu caught her. Moments later she was buried in snow) Let Me In!"**

 **UO: Start the show**

Normal text: Speaking or normal talking

Person's name followed by a colon: In-game announcer

 _"Quotes and Italics: Conversation over phones, T.V and computers._

' _Apostrophe and Italics': Thoughts_

 **Bold: Yelling**

Underline: Location and Time in match

Chapter 7: Father Vs. Daughter: Acylpatha Town Vs Magnolia City

After the Oak Town Game September 30th about 9:30 PM

When we last left Magnolia City, they had destroyed Oak Town 7-1, including a six minute stretch in which they scored 4 goals. The home crowd was cheered for 90 straight minutes and even after the game, the team went into the stands and celebrated with the crowd.

Stephen was less enthusiastic to get into the crowds and want to slink off into the locker rooms. Natsu however was having none of that and dragged him over to the section of their biggest supporters. They were known as the Guild of Fairies, named for the merchant guilds that used to congregate where the team was founded.

"Come on! It's not often we get to celebrate with our fans like this!" Natsu persuaded.

"Natsu, you know I don't like crowds," The American growled.

"Well tough, your gonna meet our fans whether you like it or not!"

Stephen sighed and followed his roommate over. Some of the other players were already signing shirts and pictures. Mira was taking some pictures with the fanboys while Grey was signing his shirt and giving them to a young fan. Lucy despite being a newcomer was already winning over some of the fans, especially the guys in the crowd. Taking an extra pen from Natsu, he walked to the stands and two fans hand them pictures. One was the first team photo that had him in it and the other was of his profile picture from the team site. As he moved down the line, he saw a red headed girl holding out a picture. He widened his eyes when he realized it was his YouTube logo, a golden bird over a soccer ball and spear.

"Well what do you know, a fan before I became a soccer star? What's your name?"

"Lana," the girl told him. "I've been a fan of your channel for two years. When are you gonna stream again?"

Stephen chuckled. "Well if it works out, tomorrow I could do it, if not Wednesday, our next game is Sunday," he told her getting the fans attention. "That's right, to all the fans of my channel and of the team, I'll be streaming this week."

"What do you do?" A guy asked.

"Well this one's gonna be relatively laid back. I play a game, you guys watch and comment. I can actually talk to you in more…intimate setting. Who knows, I might get a couple of my teammates to say hello. Anyway, I hope you guys come see it, it will be fun."

This made some of them more intrigued at the prospect of watching him play. The concept of let's playing was starting to catch on across the world, but in Fiore it was almost unheard of. Stephen knew he could get his face out there to both Fiore and the fanbase of Magnolia City. This was a good first step.

Natsu patted his shoulder. "See now you can get people to watch your channel!"

Stephen conceded the point as he signed some more stuff. Some of the kids wanted to take a photo with him and he obliged even getting Lisanna it a couple. Off to the side, Lucy smiled at how easily Stephen was being embraced by the foreign fans. She figured out early on, he wasn't a social butterfly, especially compared to his roommate. She felt her sleeve being pulled and turned to see a six year old blonde girl holding up a picture of her.

"Hi there what's your name?"

"Rebecca," the girl squeaked.

"Rebecca huh? That's a cute name," Lucy told her. She scribbled on the picture. 'To Rebecca, keep your dreams alive. Lucy Heartfillia' Her neat scrawl impressed the six year old. Just then some of the fans got rowdy and to Lucy's confusion, the girl began to hold her ears and scream. Security was already on the way to break it up, while Mira and Lucy tried to calm the girl down.

Stephen was talking with a couple of fans about his channel when he heard the scream. Asking the fans to hold their thoughts, he scrambled over to the girl who was inconsolable by the mother and the girls. He immediately got down to the girl's level.

"Hey, its okay, the bad men are being taken care of," Stephen whispered. He turned to the mother. "Is there something she uses as a security blanket? Like a toy she's attached to?"

The mother gasped and reached into her bag and grabbed her bag. Reaching, she pulled out a pink plush lamb. "She's always calmed down hugging this. It's name is Aries like the constellation. I'm so sorry, she must be overwhelmed!" She cried.

Stephen said nothing and held it up to the girl. "What's wrong Rebecca?" He asked in a high voice. "Did the bad men scare you? It's okay. I'm here!" He said getting the lamb to dance.

The voice got through to the girl and she looked at her lamb dancing around. "Uh-huh! My ears hurt, it was so loud today!" She whined

"I'm sorry you feel that way. But the cheering was a good thing! Your team won right?"

The girl nodded and reached out to grab her friend. Stephen chuckled. "You going to be okay?" At another nod, the mother gently scooped her up. "There, there momma's here!" She turned to Stephen. "Bless you young man."

The American smiled. "No problem. Let me help you to the exit. Or at least to your party."

The two with girl in her mother's arms walked up the stairs away from the awestruck crowd. Once sufficiently out of ear shot, he turned to the mother. "Your girl is autistic isn't she?"

The mother was stunned. "H-how?" She stuttered.

"I know the signs, mam. She was tired, she wanted something to calm herself and she screamed because her senses were overloaded. How long ago was the diagnosis?"

Rebecca's mom sighed. "Not even 5 months ago. I was nervous bringing her here. She had a great time I didn't even think about it. Thank you so much!" She told him honestly.

Stephen smiled and turned around to head back to the field. "Anytime, for a kindred spirit. I hope Rebecca had a good time. Oh and here," He signed an extra shirt and handed it to her. "It's a signed jersey from me. I hope she can achieve her dreams." He waved back, not seeing Rebecca had woken up and waved to him.

On the field, he saw his teammates watching him come down the stairs along with the fans he was with. Feeling a little self-conscious, he asked. "What?"

Mira broke the spell. "That…was…SO CUTE!"

Stephen blushed. "Aww, it was nothing. She looked like she needed a way to calm down." He looked at Lucy. "You did nothing wrong, she had sensatory issues. I'm sure she'll enjoy watching you play."

The blonde who had been feeling down smiled. "Thanks. You handled that so well. It's like you've seen that before!"

Stephen chuckled and went over to the fans he was talking with. "You could say that."

After a half hour, the team was allowed to leave and go back to the dorms, a well-earned rest day the next day.

Next day about 4PM Fiore Time

The creature on screen roared as an explosion cut through its body. Upon crashing the ball attached to its tail, it spit up an orange ball and disappeared into the ground. The chat on the other screen was typing encouraging remarks and possible strategies to beating it.

The game in front of them was Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Stephen was doing well in the game as far as he was concerned. He was already up to the first Temple Boss and knocked it down to about half health.

"Okay. That was two worms now comes the third. Thank god I already scanned this version," He mumbled, eyes dashing everywhere on screen. Seeing the ground churn up near him, he shifted his controller down to back Samus up as one of the humongous worms appeared above her. Stephen's fingers were fast to adjust his angle to chip of more of its armor. He immediately switched targets as another of the worms came up.

"Damn, this wasn't as tough as I remember. Trust me, this is one of the easier bosses. Next area has at least three I absolutely hate! Including the boss for the temple!" He shouted as he fired a Charge shot into the worm. The shots fired like a machine gun into the worms that jumped like large sand whales. Eventually, he stripped all three of their armor and moved onto the final phase of the fight.

"Running a little low on health." He sees a safe zone deactivate and his health decline rapidly. "Come on you bastard!" He shot the zone again before having to dodge out of the way of the beams. Turning back around, he fired off a couple of missiles which broke the head of one of them. Thinking quickly he activated Samus' morph ball and allowed it to suck her in. He then activated the bombs which finally did some damage to it. The worm screeched and flung its body up around.

"Alright that's one!" He grumbled. He glanced at the chat. "Use the Light Beam? I wonder how much that would cause?" He hit the c stick causing the gun to widen with light energy. He charged up the shot and fired. The shot did enough damage to blow the head off. "Wow! Never believed I could do that. This fight is a cinch. Thanks guys!" One more shot and the boss went down. A cut scene later and the body disintegrated.

"Nice. This suit upgrade will make exploring the Dark World a lot easier!" He said as Samus' armor turned darker after a few seconds of cut scenes. "The Dark suit protects against the corrosive effects of the Dark Aether. Lets me go longer outside the safe zones. Now it's time to get the temple's energy and find a save spot before I read off the new subscriptions and donations." He got into the temple's center and activated the Energy controller. The massive amount of energy flowed into the armor through the arm cannon like a straw. Once collected, sand began to blow across the landscape.

"Serves you right for trying to take this planet over." He said leaving the complex. A few moments later, he found a save station and activated it. He read of the subscriptions rapidly and then did some of the donations.

"Jamie489, Mr. Aran, and Dragonslayer 6 welcome to the Guild, we are all excited to have you aboard. And from Sans789, I'm glad you're able to stream all the way in Fiore, shame I can't watch you play soccer as Fiore's league isn't on her. But here's a little bit of bmoney for when the funds are tight. Thanks Sans, yeah, that sucks it's not on normal T.V. But what ya gonna do? Fiore is not like Germany or England or even Spain. Speaking of you guys saw the Barcelona game? Man that was awesome! Anyway, for those asking how long I'm gonna stream, probably till 8 or nine my time. I have one more break planned to get some dinner so hopefully it will be in a good spot for when that happens. For those asking, this will be a relatively laid back stream, I mean there is a lot of walking around so there will be time to talk as I figure stuff out from my memory. As for how complete, close to 100% of everything. So Items, monsters and Lore. I've already pointed out some of the onetime miss able objects."

He watched the chat as Natsu came in. "Hey Stephen."

He looked over his shoulder. "Hey Natsu. Come say hello to the stream. Guys, this is my roommate Natsu Dragneel. He's one of the forwards here at Magnolia City.

Natsu appeared over his shoulder and waved to the crowd. "Hey everyone!"

Stephen chuckled as the chat said hello. "I call my followers the Guild now cause of you guys. So I'm getting donations and subscriptions which will be an additional source of income in addition to the wage I get with you guys. Go figure today is payday. Speaking of Magnolia, people in the chat, be truthful how many are from Fiore? Put the team symbol if you're in Magnolia otherwise do the flag of Fiore. Actually let's extend that, let's see some country pride!"

Natsu watched as the chat exploded with different flags. Some he recognized, like Germany and the U.S. Others he didn't and it made his head hurt. "Damn, I didn't think you'd get this many people.

"I currently draw about 5 to 6K a stream, though 12K is the most I've had in a while. Some streamers and channels can pull 100K. With my little advertising spiel I actually am getting a bit more from Fiore. Though that could be because my normal viewers are on the East coast of the U.S and its school time. Which is why I upload the vods alongside the highlights of our last game. Anyway break time is over. Let's go put this energy back into its proper spot."

Before he made a move, his phone rang. "Huh?" He looked over and saw the number was from the U.S. "Wonder if Dad's calling me?" He picked it up and noticed the area code. "That's not Jersey, that's Chicago."

"Do you know anyone from Chicago?" Natsu asked.

Drew thought about it and something clicked in his mind. "Not directly, but there is one group that might call me." He answered the phone and put it on speaker asking the chat and Natsu to be quiet.

"Stephen Decatur, what's up?"

" _Mr. Decatur, this is James Ingolsodt the U.S Soccer coach. How are you doing today in Magnolia?"_

"I'm doing great sir! Just doing a little streaming in between games. You're actually live right now!"

" _Oh well I can call another time!"_ The coach tried to hang up.

"No, its fine. What's up? I normally don't get calls from Chicago so this is probably huge."

" _It is. As you know the U.S has already qualified for the World Cup."_

Stephen smiled at that. The last 8 years have been a boon time for US Soccer. The last World Cup, held in Canada, they reached the Semifinals losing to eventual champion England. Stephen was too young to be considered for the National team that year. During this cycle, the U.S continued its dominance and qualified for the tournament beating Honduras and locking up at least the top 3 in their qualifying group. With two games left, they were considering calling up some players to get them some national experience before the draw.

"Yeah, congrats by the way. I wish I could have been there."

" _Well, your going to get your wish. We've seen you do well in Magnolia and in the Champion's League. I'm here to offer you the opportunity to play for the national team. What do you say?"_

Stephen smiled. "My answer is a resounding yes sir! Where do you want me to go to meet you?"

" _Our last games are in Kingston Jamaica and then Metlife Stadium vs Mexico. You can come after your next game. Our qualifiers will be on Friday and Tuesday."_

"So do I meet up in Kingston? Or meet up in the U.S?"

" _Considering the time frame, I suggest Kingston. We're gonna fly there Monday. So if you can get there before Wedensday."_

"I'll do my best, Thank you sir!" Stephen told him and James hung up. He looked at chat. "Well you heard him. This striker's gonna be part of the national team!"

Natsu patted him on the shoulder. "That's great man! Hope we get to face each other at the Cup!"

Stephen laughed. "That's if you can get to the Cup, you still have to play two more games!"

The American had a point. Fiore unlike the U.S had to go through arguably the toughest confederation, UEFA. They lucked out with their group, containing Poland, Israel, Malta, Latvia and Gibraltar. But the way the standings shook out, Israel, Fiore and Poland were still in contention for the automatic qualifier spot and the play-in spot. To make matters worse for the Poles and the Fioreians, they had to face each other on Tuesday as their last game. If Isreal won as expected against Malta, then the game against Poland would be for the group provided they beat Latvia which wasn't a sure thing as they'd be on the road. If it came down to that game, then Fiore had to win that game because a Tie would give the Poles the group on Goal difference depending on Israel's scoring.

"I know, but I won't have the rest of my team there. As far as I know, only Elfman, Mira and Erza have been called up with me. I have to deal with certain teammates like those forwards from United!"

Stephen nodded in understanding. When it came to rivalries in Fiore, few could match the ferocity of the Magnolia Derby. Stephen would get to play in his first at the end of the month but based on most of his team mates reactions, the feeling was similar to Natsu's.

"You need to suck it up. If you don't win out, you're not going to the World Cup. As much as I want to face you, that's over a year away and you can't lose what's right in front of ya!" He looked at the chat realizing he was still on screen. "That goes for everyone. Don't plan for stuff that you think will happen in a year. You got to own it, and make the future for yourself!"

The chat blew up as he finished. "Yeah, guess you're right. Anyway, I'm gonna go take a walk. Nice talking to ya guys!"

"Later Natsu!" Stephen replied high fiving him. Turning back to the screen. "Natsu is probably the one guy that could fire up any team. Glad to have him as a mate." He looked at a question. "Where's he going? Uh, probably trying to find our midfielder Lucy. There is a bet going on within our team when those two get together. I put after the Magnolia United game at the end of the month. Speaking of, I'm trying to see if I can get some of the games to be live streamed on my channel. Makarov, our owner, said I could but I need someone to be the commentator. That's later, let's get back making sure Aether has a future!"

Stephen got back into the game and for the next several hours he talked and struggled with the game. Overall, he felt it was productive and promised to try to get further in the next stream.

With Natsu

After Natsu left the room, he wondered the dorms looking bored out of his mind. Figuring that there was nothing better to do, he went to see if Lucy was available. Approaching the door, he knocked on it, learning from the last time he barged in.

"Lucy? You there?" He asked. Trying the handle, he found it was unlocked and he opened it. He hadn't been fully inside the apartment because he hadn't felt the need to come to Levy's room before.

"Bark!" Natsu turned to see Plue bounding up to him. "Hey boy!" He scratched the dog's ear. "Where's Lucy and Levy?"

The dog lead him into a side room. Peering inside, he whistled at the amount of books inside. Also prevalent were several characters Stephen said were from Japanese animation. He chuckled at the guys on the wall, but stopped. Why was it bothering him so much that she had anime stuff? Shaking his head, he spotted the blonde at her desk. Her head was laying down on its surface and her eyes were closed, breathing softly. Natsu was compelled to go over to her and watch her sleep. He noticed a stray hair on her face and he brushed it back. The light touch was enough to stir the blonde midfielder awake.

She blinked sleepily at the hand in front of her. Following the arm up, she saw Natsu with his normal goofy grin. "Hey sleepy head."

"Natsu? How did you get in here?" She tried to sound mad, but still in the doldrums of sleep, it came out as a yawn.

"Your room was open, Levy must have gone out. Whatcha doing?"

Lucy sat up and stretched her arms. "Nothing, just trying to write stuff and well I fell asleep." Plue trotted up to her and laid his head on her lap. She smiled and petted the dog.

"What're you writing?"

Lucy looked at her desk. "Just somethings I want to put down. I don't want a lot of people to read it yet. Levy's been a big help."

Natsu smiled. "Alright then. Want to grab a bite?"

Lucy tapped her chin. "Sure." The two left the room and headed out to grab some dinner. An hour and a half later Lucy was back in her room watching T.V with Natsu. They could hear Stephen cure as he's fighting something on screen and could only chuckle. As they settled to watch a movie, her phone rang. She looked down and frowned recognizing the number.

"Something up Luce?"

"Just a call from home. I'll be right back," She told him sweetly. She walked out of the room and into the hall. She clicked it on. "Hello Father," She said neutrally.

" _Hello Lucy,"_ Her father's voice greeted her. Lucy's father Jude was a serious man. He had cornered the market in the trains and shipping in Fiore. He used that wealth to purchase one of the current First Saint League teams, Acylpaha Town. The very team Magnolia City would be facing this week at the newly named Layla Gardens.

Lucy had been wanting to play for them, but she got into a massive fight with her father. Apparently he didn't think she could play for anyone despite some scouts suggesting otherwise. Instead, he wanted her to be arraigned to be married to another upper class gentlemen. Lucy had flat out refused and with some help from her mother, she was able to escape and get on the train she met Stephen on.

"I take this this isn't a social call. I thought I told you never to contact me!"

" _Now Lucy, I'm sure you don't mean that. I mean we can let bygones be bygones after all,"_ He smoothly told her.

"Get. To the. Fucking. Point!" Lucy Growled.

" _I see your attitude hasn't changed. Well now, I have a proposition for you. You know Magnolia City faces my team on Sunday, Correct?"_

"Yes. And I know my team will kick your team's sorry ass!"

" _Heh, funny. I was gonna say the same thing. Because I have a way for Acylpaha Town to guarantee our win. And it's through you, my beloved daughter."_

Lucy didn't like his tone as he continued. _"All I want you to do, is make sure you cost Magnolia City the game. I don't care how you do it, just make sure they lose!"_

Lucy snarled. "You have to be joking me! I won't let destroy this team because your team sucks!"

" _Even it means reinstating you to the family?"_ Jude told her shutting the blonde up. _"You make sure City loses and we can forget this little spat of ours ever happened!"_

Lucy was close to blowing up but kept her cool. "Mother doesn't know about this does she? Don't care! You can forget your stupid deal. I'm a Fairy and I will be one until you see that I can play just as well as any of the women on my team! Good-bye and Good luck!" She angrily hung up and nearly threw her phone against the wall. She took a couple of deep breaths to calm down and headed back into the room.

Natsu looked up to see the blonde mad. "Something up?"

"Just my family being their worried self and I got frustrated at their worrying," she lied smoothly. "Anyway, I'm tired, rain check on the movie?"

"Sure. Night Lucy!" The forward told her and the blonde left the room. What they didn't notice was that Stephen's room had gone suspiciously quiet. The streamer had ended his stream about two minutes after Lucy left the room and was getting something to drink. He had heard Lucy's shouts and heard the tail end of her conversation.

' _So Lucy's father wanted her to throw the game but she doesn't want to. Owner of Acylpaha Town huh? Time to do some research!'_

With some random video he found on in the background, he delved into the background of their opponent. Pulling up the team bio page, he found it quite interesting. Up until Jude Heartfillia bought out the team seven years prior, they were languishing in the Fourth Saint League, highest tier where the teams were separated by regions. Coming from the northern tiers, they were on the verge of insolvency when the Heartfillia Corporation bought it out. Soon after the buy, he heavily invested the money he got from his shipping and energy company and bought in the best free agents they could get. It paid off as within four years he reached the top of second tier and eventually the First Saint League. It wasn't the first club to come back after heavy investment at a lower tier and reach the top but for a national company to do it was impressive.

It was at this top tier they ran into a wall. The skill level at any top tier European league was enormous and the First Saint League was no exception. He had aspirations for the top, but when you have teams like Magnolia City, FC Bosco and Alverez, it would take a herculean effort to even get into the European qualifying spots, much less winning it all.

Looking up the Heartfilia family, he smiled at the picture. It was with Jude, what he presumed was his wife and little girl he knew was Lucy. Looking at the mother, if it wasn't for the caption saying it was Layla Heartfillia, he thought he was looking at Lucy's sister.

"Damn, Lucy got some great genes," He admired.

"Who's got some great jeans?" Natsu asked coming in.

Stephen smiled. "Lucy. Take a look, the older woman is her mother."

Natsu walked up to the desk and saw the picture. He had to do a double take. Lucy's mother looked a lot like her, right down to her smile.

"Um…" He said with a blush. "Wow…"

"Yeah. Your girlfriend is gorgeous and her mother is not bad either"

Natsu looked away and grumbled. "She's not my girlfriend."

' _Yet'_ Stephen thought. "Anyway, I was doing some research on the team and I came across some of this stuff. Was about to look up the company that owns the team."

"Wait Lucy's family owns the team?"

"Yeah, Jude's her dad. That right there sends up some possible red flags," Stephen told him. He looked up Heartfillia Corp and got news about potential money issues. "Their stock hasn't done so well, competition from among others, Kurosaki-Ishida and Souske. Also the fact that he's focusing too much on rails and shipping and they still haven't fully recovered from the Floods, especially in the Mediterranean. He shouldn't be investing so much in the team. So why would Lucy leave her family?"

"Maybe she's a gold digger and wants all that money?" Natsu theorized only to be punched in the gut.

"Don't think like that! Lucy would have gone to Magnolia United or another team if money was the issue!" Stephen growled. "I'm thinking, she had a falling out and because her mom probably still contacts her, she hasn't dropped her name. The fact we haven't called her out on her name is a blessing for her."

Natsu frowned, Stephen had a point. "So why the interest in this Heartfillia corps?"

"Cause I happen to catch bits of her conversation while you were in your room when I got something to drink. It sounds like she was upset with someone. Chances are, it was her dad."

"Still doesn't explain why your suddenly interested in them?"

"I think Jude asked Lucy to interfere in the game or baring that try to influence the refs."

Natsu gasped at the implications. "But why would he do that?"

"I don't know. But I need to talk to Gildarts in the morning about me going for the qualifiers. I could bring it up," Stephen answered.

Natsu nodded hesitantly. After a few more pages, Natsu got bored and went back to his room, leaving Stephen to contemplate further thoughts.

Two Days Later: October 3rd, Conference Room about 11AM Fiore Time

Gildarts watched the team settle in and frowned. He had just finished talking with a couple of players and would think about his formation carefully.

"Alright, this will be a standard meeting. We'll be going over our next game and the plans for the International games that are forthcoming. Those who are being called up to the national teams please let me know before Sunday."

He knew most of the team were Fiore born with the exception of Stephen who had already told him about his call up. Four members of his own team would be playing in the crucial set of games next week. Those being Natsu, Erza, Elfman and Mira. He also knew he would have to get everyone from the other teams to cooperate especially those from Magnolia United and AFC Alverez. One person he was glad wouldn't be available at least through this set of games was Natsu's brother Zeref. He got suspended due to a red card in the Israel game and would be out for the two games. To the outside observer, having one of the best players in the league benched would be a bad thing. But he knew most of the Fiore team would not work well with him.

"Okay now, for Sunday's game. We have it on the road against AcylpahaTown." He pulled up the projector and turned it on. "They're the middle of the pack at the moment. But don't let their record fool you, it can take one game to turn around a season. Anyway, they operate in a 4-3-1-2."

As Gildarts spoke, Stephen rolled his head, looking around the room. He typically tuned out the less important meetings, more interesting in other things. When his focus drifted he watched the other reactions to certain things. To his right, he saw Natsu bored but at least paying some attention to the briefing. Behind him Erza was taking diligent notes about their opponent.

"What!?" Lucy's scream to his left caught his attention and he winced. Sounds like Lucy got the bad news.

"Lucy, your ankle is still not 100% I don't want you starting. You'll still be on the bench but I don't think your ready to go 90 minutes."

Lucy huffed as Gildarts continued the meeting. "After the World Cup games, we have a Champion's League game against Wolfsburg. After our win against Barcelona, they'll be playing us tough. Don't let your egos cloud your playing ability. Dismissed."

Lucy stormed out of the room at that order. Stephen sighed and followed Natsu who was just as worried about the blonde's behavior. They reached a side room and she unleashed a tirade. "My ankle is just fine! How dare Coach Clive bench me like this!"

"Luce calm down, you're not exactly helping the coach's case!"

"Yeah so? Right now I'm the best scoring midfielder we have, and I want to get out there and support My Team!" She huffed. "I know the medical team cleared me to start! Why did he say no?"

A voice caught their attention. "That…might have been my fault." They turned to see Stephen walking in. "I asked Gildarts to at least keep you out the first half when I talked about the call up to the U.S Team.

The blonde looked betrayed. "Why?"

"Cause you weren't exactly quiet when your dad called you," He replied. "Based on your conversation, your dad offered something of value to do something related to the game."

Lucy's silence was enough for both of them. Stephen sighed. "I don't care what he offered, but if any other opposing team called a player specifically it's not good."

The blonde glared at him. "Why would you care? I wasn't going to take the deal! I can't believe you betrayed my trust like that. I thought you were my friend!"

"I am your friend and its because of our friendship I refuse to let you go down the path the rest of this league seems to be taking!" Stephen snapped.

Lucy's anger was replaced with confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"He's saying he's trying to find and root out the corruption from the league," Natsu tried to clear up. "Metal face thinks there's a cold war in the league and most of the teams have tried to manipulate the outcomes of matches."

"I suspect Oak Town might have tried to manipulate the betting in our curbstomp. If it's true that might have sent red flags to some UEFA representatives. I do know, however that the betting was cancelled due to the irregularities in some of the betting. But until they look, I need this to be only be need to know. Only three other people outside this room know at the moment, and that's Gajeel, Makarov and Gildarts."

Lucy finally sat down at the info dump. "So my father wants…I can't believe him. I always knew he was as a bastard." She sniffled and Natsu walked over to hug her.

Stephen sighed. "I'm sorry to dump all of this on you. But I assure you, Magnolia City will not fall if Makarov, Gildarts and I have something to say about it. They can research stuff in their own time. As a player and a foreigner, I can sneak under the radar. Right now, the important thing is play our games. I'm gonna see if I can find stuff when I get back."

"Maybe I can help too," A familiar voice startled them. They turned to see Lisanna walking up to them, shyly crossing her arms.

"Lisanna? How much did you hear?" Stephen asked.

The white haired girl looked away. "Enough to get an idea of what your saying. I can help too. I still keep friends on the streets. Some of them are in the more…dubious side of the law but they are good people. Maybe they know something."

"You don't have to do this," He told her.

"I want to. Besides, I get to do something with you. Saving our sport sounds fun!" She cheered.

Stephen smiled. "Alright." He turned back to Natsu and Lucy. "No one else knows until I say so. Only trust Gajeel, Makarov and Gildarts with this information."

Everyone nodded. Stephen turned back to the door. "Now then, let's get something to eat! I'm hungry!"

His friends laughed and walked out behind him. If anyone watched them, they would see Stephen's arms around Lisanna's waist and Lucy leaning into Natsu's.

Sunday October 6th an hour before game time.

Lucy sighed as she stretched out her legs. She looked around at the moderately sized stadium. Her father would name it after her mother, his wife. That was big stink with the supporters after the team got bought out because of the history. Most clubs around the world didn't get new stadiums or rename them. When there was a change, there was always a battle between the town, the supporters and the ownership.

The blonde stood up and saw Mira approaching her. "Hey Lucy. There's a woman here asking for you."

Intrigued, she followed the defender to midfield. As they got closer, she saw a familiar head of hair in a blue dress and immediately sprinted towards her. "Mom!?"

The woman saw Lucy approach and waved. "Lucy!" The two tearfully embraced in a hug. Releasing, Layla took a look at her daughter. "Look at you, I can't believe you're playing for a team like Magnolia City!"

Lucy giggled. "Thanks mom. It took a bit, but no I'm a regular starter." She frowned. "How's dad? I'm sure he's said something about today."

"Yes, well, he's been a bit more distant lately, but don't worry about your father. You're pursuing your dream. No one should stop you."

"Thanks mom," Lucy sniffled.

"Luce!" Natsu called out jogging over. He saw the blonde woman in the stands. "Oh I didn't know your sister was here."

Layla giggled. "Such a flatterer. No, I'm Lucy's mother. And you must be my daughter's boyfriend."

This got both of the players to sputter and made Mira giggle. "No, he isn't…at least…Your embarrassing me mom!" Lucy sputtered.

"Ms. Heartfillia p-please, we aren't l-like that!" Natsu answered while answering in his head. _'At least not yet!'_

Layla pouted. "Shame, you would be so cute!"

"I know right?" Mira squealed. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you Ms. Heartfillia, I hope we can talk to her the game!"

"Me too." Layla told her. She turned to her daughter. "I hope we can sit down to talk soon. I miss you. Your father was an idiot forcing you away."

Lucy nodded and headed to the locker room. Layla sighed and was escorted by one of the servants up to the super box with her husband. Jude watched her come in. "I take it Lucy is doing well?"

"As well as she can be considering you drove her off," Layla said crossly.

Jude said nothing and turned back to the field. "Is she starting today?"

"No, something about her ankle. She might go the second half," His wife responded.

He said nothing and turned back to the field. Unseen to his wife, he gripped his chair in anticipation of the coming match.

Broadcasters

Chamati: Good Morning First Saint League fans! We are here at the lovely Layla Gardens for week 6 with Acalypha Town hosting League front runners Magnolia City. I am Chamati Lola and my partner today is Jason Thompson. Jason, Magnolia City continues to impress as they demolished early season favorites Oak Town, 7 goals to 1.

Jason: That includes 4 goals in less than 5 minutes. Two of those goals were by bundle of energy Natsu Dragneel. He has put the team on his back and has tearing through defenses like a sword. (Both goals against Oak Town are shown) You give him an inch, he will score quickly. And he managed to score twice in less than 90 seconds, he deserves the nickname the Fire Dragon!"

Chimatti: Both forwards have stepped up since Laxus Dreyer and in fact the entire midfield has contributed the tempo of the game especially with captain Scarlet prowling the midfield.

Jason: They are one of the most cohesive units in the league but one of the cornerstones Lucy Heartfillia won't be starting today. She had a flare up of the injury suffered in the Barcelona game and out of precaution will not play at the least the first half. So the coach's daughter Cana Alberona will take over. But with the way the other five are playing, it might not matter though not having a calming presence in the midfield might hurt them as Natsu is sitting on three yellows and Erza two.

Chamati: They can get a bit rowdy, but they wouldn't be Magnolia City otherwise. Speaking of Heartfillia, that's the name of their opponents Acalypha Town. They are owned by the Heartfillia Corps, run by patriarch Jude. The story is Lucy wanted to be independent of her father and well at least for the first half she isn't going to get that.

Jason: Acalypha Town was talk of the league three years ago when they broke through after near bankruptcy. But with the brick wall that is the top 5 in the First Saint League, they have struggled with consistency.

Chamati: Well if they can beat Magnolia City, they can certainly get on track to the top. For now let's send it down to the tunnels.

In the tunnels, Natsu was the last in line behind Stephen. He looked to where Lucy was supposed to be, in front of Lisanna, with a frown. The American glanced over his shoulder. "Lucy is still out there, let's focus alright? We are a deep team, Cana can handle it. Especially if she's sober."

"Don't worry, the drinking will be after the game," the brunette giggled.

Lisanna looked back at him. "Lucy will be fine, she can be in the second half."

Natsu smiled before the guards motioned the team forward. The crowd gave polite applause as the team took the field coming from the southern goal. On the other side of the field, the large screen came to life. Pat Benatar's Love is a Battlefield played over the speakers as the Home team took the field.

Stephen sighed. "Not the best song for them. Give it a five out of ten. I can imagine some of the other teams being metal songs.

Lisanna agreed. "I know two are from what I've looked up. But less focus on music more on the game."

"Right, right. Chill Lis," He grumbled.

"Where is your head at? You're acting worse than Natsu!" Lisanna asked as they lined up.

"Sorry." Stephen said sheepishly. He scanned across the opposing team. "No women. Guess Lucy was right about Jude not believing they should belong on a team."

"Politics later, game now!" The midfielder shouted as the opposing team took the kick. Unlike the game against Oak Town, this one was more conservative with few scoring opportunities. Acalypha Town was finding itself outclassed physically especially in the back line. Meanwhile, Magnolia City was getting opportunities into the box but they were making amateur mistakes. These mistakes would catch unprepared teams off guard, but Magnolia City seemed to be immune to the home team's tries.

The most notable thing happened about twenty minutes in. Stephen was going for the ball on one of the midfielders and tripped up the player. The ref saw it and marched over to hold up a yellow card.

"What the heck!? That was not a foul!" He snapped at the ref. Before he could get into the ref's face, Erza pushed him back.

"Calm down!" She barked. "Get back in line and focus!"

"That foul was not a foul and you know it!" He spotted the guy getting up. "He's not even hurt!"

"It happened and we'll move on!" She told him.

Stephen growled and went back to where he awaited the free kick.

Chamati: I think this is the first time the American has been carded this year. He's normally more composed than that.

Jason: It was a clean challenge from up here, but the ref didn't think so.

On the bench, Lucy groaned. "I wanna be out there! Stephen clearly needs someone else to calm him down!"

Levy overheard her. "Lucy you can't go out there with your ankle like that."

"My ankle is fine! Coach!" She waved to him getting his attention. Gildarts stepped over to her and leaned down. "What's up Heartfillia?"

"I need to be back in the game! Please coach!"

He looked back at the field. "I know you do, but I don't want you risking your body right now!"

Lucy was having none of it. "My ankle is fine! We both know why I'm not out there! I want to prove to my father I can play!"

Gildarts looked back out on the field and saw his daughter Cana. He suddenly found himself in Mr. Heartfillia's place and realized she was right.

"You do have a point. Mcgarden!" He called out to the petite girl. "Go with Heartfillia make sure her ankle is better. Get Bisca to take another look."

Levy nodded and brought the midfielder over to the green haired assistant. Even though Bisca had gone maternity leave she still wanted to help, so she became a nurse. Seeing she liked it, she decided to retire to take care of her daughter and focus on being a nurse. Makarov seeing her heart for the team, allowed her to be a doctor's assistant on the field. For more serious injuries they would turn to their on-staff doctor.

Lucy went through her routine to get her legs warmed up. It was quite cool, the Fiorian fall beginning to settle in, which with the Mediterranean climate meant it was breezy especially this far in. She knew with some of the recent rains it was also going to be humid, meaning there was a possibility for cramps. But she was more concerned to get her ankle ready. As the game approached half time, Bisca walked over and examined her leg.

"Hm…Looks good. Tell Gildarts you can go for the second half."

Lucy nodded enthusiastically and walked over to the coach. Gildarts caught her out of the corner of his eye. "You good?"  
"Yep. Who's gonna come off?"

"Don't know yet. But I've seen how you work with Lisanna, Grey and Erza so it might be Cana."

Lucy nodded and two minutes later she followed the team into the locker room. The mood was more subdued, mainly because they didn't score in the first half.

Stephen was still in a bit of a bad mood over his yellow card. "Damn it, everyone knew that was not a yellow card. Stupid ref!"

Lisanna grabbed his shoulder before he did more damage. "Relax, it was just a yellow card. Don't blow your top and get another one."

The American sighed. "I know. Some of the stress is getting to be, just need something to calm me down after this."

"I'll help you out," the blue eyed girl told him. He smiled in gratitude. He spied Lucy talking with Natsu. "Lucy, you going in?"

"Yeah my ankle is better!" She said gleefully.

Stephen nodded. A few moment later, they were called back onto the field. As they left the locker room, Stephen grabbed Lucy's shoulder and whispered into her ear. "That should throw off any bettors and whatever your dad had. I hope you're ready to show him you mean business."

Lucy grinned, something that would not be out of place on Natsu.

Booth

Chamati: We are back at Layla Gardens for the second half. Its scoreless which might be a small moral victory for the Acylpaha Town.

Jason: I'm sure Coach Gildarts spoke to the group in the locker room and made the right changes.

Chamati: One of those changes is right now as Lucy Heartfillia takes over for Alberona. Yes as in Jude Heartfillia's daughter.

Up in the booth, Layla clapped. "Oh good, we get to see Lucy play dear.

Jude's eyes narrowed. "So it seems. Let's hope she doesn't embarrass our name."

"Jude, I swear to god your dumb pride is going to be the end of you," she snapped. You had a chance to sign your very talented daughter, but your misogynistic ways made her leave!"

The business owner said nothing and looked at the field. _'You may be right. But this match will show my daughter's ineptitude and her independence is nothing to the power we wield! Once they lose, she'll be crying to come back!'_

On the field, Lucy narrowed her eyes at the booth where her dad was. Stephen saw it and motioned to Natsu. He took one look at the blonde and grinned. At the ref's whistle he kicked it to Erza who immediately kicked it out to Lisanna. She took it up field then passed it back to the American who one timed it to Lucy who was already in full stride and onside. She launched a rocket to the goal keeper's right and was already celebrating as it went in. All of that, from the whistle to the shot was 12 seconds.

Booth

Chamati: Ref signals to play and we are underway for the second half. Scarlet passes it up to Strauss. Speeds up, dumps to Decatur. He one times it to Heartfillia in Stride! She's onside and IN! 12 seconds after she comes on, she makes an immediate impact!

Jason: Well whatever issues she had seem to be long gone. That shot was amazing and just like that Magnolia City has life in them and that's a bad sign for Acylpaha Town.

Up in the super box, Layla clapped in delight. "Go Lucy!" J

Jude though clenched his seat in rage. _'That girl! I told her to make sure they lose!'_

"That was a great goal right?" Layla asked. Getting no response, Layla huffed. "You're going to be eating your words soon enough.

Back on the field, Lucy was jogging back to midfield. She spotted Stephen across the field and pointed at him. He responded by giving her a thumbs up.

Acpalyha Town 0-1 Magnolia City

Heartfillia (MAGC) 46'

With Lucy's goal, Magnolia City seemed rejuvenated. They increased their pressure on the entire defense of the home team. They took a few shots, two of them even getting through to the goalkeeper. With each shot, they were getting closer and closer to getting another goal.

That goal came at the 65 minute mark. Magnolia City was given a free kick after a hard challenge to Natsu resulted in a yellow card for one of the defenders. The ball was placed about twenty yards out on the keeper's left and Lucy believing she can get the shot took it. She lined up and scanned the goal keeper. Seeing the keep too close to the side she was on, she picked her target. On the whistle, she marched up and launched the kick. The ball curved as it arc through the air. The curve was enough to carry it away from the goal and into the top corner.

Chamati: Heartfillia setting up the goal. The wall being set up. (Whistle) Ref gives the go. She lines up. Launches, curving Away! AND IN! That's 2 goals for blonde midfielder. There is a fire in this girl and it has spread to the other 10.

Jason: What a shot, Heartfillia is play like a girl possessed and that's two for the former hometown girl.

Acpalyha Town 0-2 Magnolia City

Heartfillia (MAGC) 46' 66'

Jude saw the goal and actually stood up to pace around. Two goals by his daughter? This was absurd. He looked back at the monitor and caught sight of his daughter smiling as she celebrated the goal. Something changed in him as his daughter celebrated with her team. "Is…this what makes Lucy happy?"

Layla heard him and smiled not even taking her eyes off the action. "You finally realized that huh? About time."

Jude grabbed his head. "Am I horrible father? I pushed her away because…oh my god I can't believe what I did.

Layla walked over to take Jude's hand. "You still have time to apologize to her. She wanted to pursue her dream and she was willing to forsake the future you planned out for her."

Jude sighed. "I know. All I wanted was someone to look after the company when I stepped down. I mean our fortunes haven't been the best lately, but I still want Lucy to have the best future possible.

"And she will. Maybe one day she'll settle down. Maybe with a nice boy from her team."

"Any boy wanting my daughter will be castrated to the highest degree!" The man growled getting his wife to giggle. "If you'll excuse me I have a call to make." He left the room and pulled out a phone. Dialing a number, he waited for the call to connect. When it went through, he smiled. "Isshin? This is Jude Heartfillia. I've decided to change my mind about our deal." (For those who don't know this is 5 months before the start of Bleach Grand Prix)

" _Let me guess, your family is more important."_

"Yes. I guess I had a change of heart. Are you still willing to negotiate a partnership here?"

" _Of course. We aren't like Souske limited. We get minority share, you get the capital to stay afloat and advance your business. Sounds like a win win!"_

"Yes. Well good luck next week in GP2!"

" _Hehe we are already nearing GP1! My boys are great!"_

"Yes. Well, I got to go, my team is getting their butts kicked.

" _Right, right, we'll talk Monday!"_

Jude nodded and hung up. Returning to the box, Layla noticed him smiling. "Something the matter honey?"

"No. Just securing our future so I can be something again."

"What?"

Jude smiled down at the field. "A father." He motioned to Layla to follow her down to the field. A few minutes later they appeared on their team's side. There was about four minutes left in the game at this point. They watched Magnolia City attack again. This time Natsu took into the box and fired a shot. It bounced off the keeper and Lucy was there for the rebound for her third goal and a hat trick.

Chapati: City on the attack again. Decatur passes it up to Dragneel! Onside! Fires off the keeper! Heartfillia gets it! AND THAT's 3! A spectacular hat trick for the rookie midfielder.

Jason: She came to play today and she has played beautifully. A hat trick for the Heartfillia midfielder. (Camera cuts to her parents) And look at the proud parents. I think there might be some reconciliation later.

Lucy was already in the arms of her teammates as they celebrated the goal. She happened to turn and catch her parents cheering. She wanted to cry but there was still three minutes plus extra time left.

Six minutes later the end of the game was called and Magnolia City celebrated the goal. Jude and Layla made their way to the field and headed towards Lucy. Lucy was in Natsu's arms and saw them approach. Feeling Natsu's arm wrap possessively around her, she patted his arm and approached them.

"Hello Jude," She said neutrally.

"Hello, my daughter. I wanted to congratulate you on your performance. You did wonderful."

"Even for a girl?" She asked keeping her temper in control with the cameras on her.

"Yes. I want to apologize. For everything. This old man made a mistake and I will understand if…" He was cut off by a teary eyed Lucy hugging him. "I'm sorry too dad! For everything! I love you!"

Jude sniffled and returned the hug. The cameras caught the embrace and focused on them. With the Magnolia City team, they all smiled at what she did.

"That was beautiful!" Mira squealed.

Stephen grinned. _'Great job Lucy. Guess your father can be changed.'_ He turned back to head to the locker room. _'Perhaps there can be change for everyone else. But it'll be long and hard. When I get back from the U.S I need to take this seriously. But for now, Natsu, you better win. I want to face you at the Cup!'_

He left into the tunnel as Magnolia City celebrated. But there was a seriousness in the air as the final round of World Cup qualifying takes place in the coming week. Who will represent Europe in the tournament? Find out as First Saint League continues.

 **End of Chapter**

 **UO: Why did this take so long?**

 **New team:**

 **Acpalyha Town: Founded in 1954, it was close to liquidation before Jude Heartfillia took over and promoted themselves all the way to top tier.**

 **Emblem: A Red Lotus**

 **Uniforms Home: Red shirt Green Pants Away: Green Shirt and white pants**

 **Preview: The First Saint League takes a break as the Final rounds of the UEFA World Cup Qualifying takes place. Fiore faces Poland for their World Cup lives. Who will win? Find out next time**

 **Next Time: World Cup: Fiore vs Poland**

 **Next update is Nakama United and then a skip of this for 2** **nd** **Magnolia**

 **Please Review Kindly. Also check out my pals, Lalapie203, Spartan719, Code-Emperor07, Kurogane 7, Soleneus, Soulsilverlord, Vanishing Raptor, Kage Bijuu, Giratina Zero EvashinobiKaiserKnight Kamen Rider Super-Fan and NorthSouthGorem. I help on a lot of their works. Also call me out on mistakes.**

 **One last thing, I have a Forum to discuss future ideas. Its on the Writer's United Forum under UnitedOsprey1991 ideas and discussions.**

 **OSPREY...SWOOOSH**


	8. World Cup: Poland vs Fiore

**OSPREY…SWOOOSH**

 **UO: So uh…funny thing. I actually finished Chapter 15 of Nakama United. But its been stuck in editing and as a result progress on this was slowed. Blame my beta unfortunately, he's got other stuff and meticulous. Anyway time to see if Fiore can make the World Cup!**

 **Grey: Seriously is there a doubt we can't make it?**

 **UO: Who knows. Let's get on the pitch!**

 **(Explosion)**

 **UO: Oh COME ON! (Sees the dragon slayers fighting each other) Seriously we haven't even started this chapter. (Groan) Disclaimer please**

 **Erza: Unitedosprey1991 doesn't own Fairy Tail or any teams mentioned, he only owns this plot and** **Stephen**

 **UO: Start the show**

Normal text: Speaking or normal talking

Person's name followed by a colon: In-game announcer

 _"Quotes and Italics: Conversation over phones, T.V and computers._

' _Apostrophe and Italics': Thoughts_

 **Bold: Yelling**

Underline: Location

Chapter 8: World Cup: Fiore vs. Poland

Early Evening October 8th, Miami International Airport

When we last left Magnolia City, they had defeated Acylpaha Town by a 3-0 score, maintaining their spot atop the standings. In the process, Lucy, who had a falling out with her father, reconciled on the field while the cameras watched on.

Now that the game was over, most leagues were taking the week off as Qualifying for the World Cup would be concluding this week in most of the Confederations. From 203 countries, they were to be whittled down to 32 for the tournament that would be played in Spain the following summer. The U.S had already qualified thanks to some impressive games and now was calling up Stephen to see if he can earn his spot on the Cup team.

By contrast, Fiore was still not qualified despite being in one of the weaker groups had struggled to stay in second place in the group. And thanks to how the points panned out, they would have a hard time even getting that and qualifying for the home and home playoffs. In Europe, thanks to being supposedly the strongest confederation, they got 13 spots plus the Host country, so nearly half the participants this year would be European. In the group stage the nine group winners would advance while the best 8 of the second place teams would go to a two legged playoff with the winners advancing. Of the group winners, the most notable teams that had advanced so far were England, Germany, Russia and Portugal. Notable eliminations were France, Switzerland and Sweden. Fiore was lucky to still be in contention in their group, especially with the infighting. The path forward was clear. Win out to get all the way in or win out and hoped Israel screwed up.

Now Stephen had just cleared customs for the second time in Miami. He would be staying overnight at the hotel on the airport property while he waited for the puddle jumper that would take him to Kingston. Once through he had three phone calls to make. The first was to the US Coach.

" _James Ingolslodt."_

"Coach, this is Stephen Decatur, I just landed in Miami. I got one more flight tomorrow I should be in Kingston by noonish.

" _Well that's great! Thank you for letting me know. Most of the squad is actually already in Miami. Which hotel are you staying at?"_

"I'm gonna see if I can sleep at the one the property. Why where are you guys?"

" _Oh we're at the Hampton not far from you. If you want we can send someone to get you?"_

"If you want. Thanks Coach."

" _No problem, I understand that you're traveling a long distance and want to save money."_

"Heh, Coach Class on two International flights not fun. Alright, I'm at the International terminal.

" _Roger that. Your gonna do great with us."_

"Thanks coach, see you soon." James hung up after that and Stephen sighed. Next call was to his parents. Hitting the quick dial, he waited a few moments before someone picked up.

" _Stephen?"_

"Hey dad. I'm back in the U.S at least for tonight."

" _That's good! Did you have a good flight?"_ His dad asked.

"Yeah, Coach Class on two different flights and three international airports are not fun. Anyway, in case you didn't catch it, I'm gonna be at Metlife on Tuesday for the end of qualifiers.

" _We got tickets already, we can't wait to see you."_

"Thanks. Anyway, the team's in Miami and they let me bunk with them and fly with them tomorrow on a charter.

" _Alright then, we'll be watching."_

"Thanks dad, how's mom.

" _Is that Stephen?"_ His mom, Aisha asked.

"Hey mom, how's the rest of the family doing?"

" _Oh my baby boy! Everyone misses you, we haven't missed a game yet, despite the time difference!"_

"That's what 6 or 7 Eastern? That's an early breakfast."

" _Anything to support our family!"_

Stephen smiled. "Well, I would really like it if some of them met my team. They practically treat each other like family.

" _Maybe for Christmas we can fly there, you have a game sometime after that right?"_

"I think the Saturday after."

" _Oh good, we can plan the trip and meet everyone."_

"Thanks mom. Love you, give my regards to the rest of the family. We should be on Fox Saturday night."

After saying good bye, he made one more call. This time to a certain White haired girl.

" _Hello?"_ Stephen had to chuckle at her grogginess. Evidently, he just woke her up.

"Hey Lis."

" _Stephen? Oh I'm so sorry. Do you know what time it is over here?"_

"Sorry, probably three in the morning. Its about 7:30 at night here.

" _Glad you're safe in the U.S. How was the flight?_

"It was fine. How's the rest of the team?"

" _Some of the Internationals including Mira and Elfman are camping in Crocus. So right now I'm home alone."_

"Free to do anything?" Stephen said with a smirk.

" _You pervert,"_ Lisanna huffed, but there was no heat behind it.

He laughed. He looked and saw someone with the U.S shield on their shirt. "Alright, my ride's here. Got to go."

" _Love you,"_ She mumbled without thinking.

"Huh?" Stephen asked. "I didn't catch that last part.

Lisanna's brain must have caught up because she squeaked. _"Uh I mean G-good night!"_

"Yeah, good night," Stephen replied and hung up. He shook his head. _'Love you too Lis'_

"Stephen Decatur?" The man asked.

"That's me."

"Lance Marscovetra, assistant coach. Was your trip eventful?" The man asked as Stephen placed his bag in the back.

"Flights were fine, just let everyone know I'm here. So how does the hotel thing work right now?"

"We're working out room arraignments but I think you'll be rooming with one of the strikers. We have a charter flight at about Noon tomorrow. I bet you're hungry."

"Starving!" The Striker laughed. "Let me settle in and then we can worry about food."

A few minutes later, they arrived at the Hampton Inn. Stephen stretched as he left the vehicle. "Must be in America, you don't see these in Europe.

"Yeah, much further from the coast. One of the few areas in the state that recovered to a pre flood state. Most of the rest have decided to live on the water."

Stephen nodded. That was one of the few modern things he learned in school. Another thing he learned was the near Civil War when two picks that went against popular vote were voted into office. He was fortunate some people got together and actually fulfilled their campaign promises. That and the Floods were beginning to take center stage resulting in the need for strong leadership.

After finally checking in and dropping of the bags, Lance led them to the bar, The Ale House, where most of the team was sitting down to dinner. When he entered, James caught sight of Lance.

"There they are. Lance, Stephen over here." The coach called out, getting the rest of the group's attention.

Stephen smiled and reached out to shake the coach's hand. "Nice to formally meet you, Coach."

"Nice to formally welcome you to the National Team. We have some members of the team here." He waved his hands over to them. He pointed first to the tanned bald headed man. "This is our goal keeper, Jason Howard."

"Hello," He said shaking the young man's hand.

"Next to him is Brendan Cruz," he pointed to the Hispanic man next to him.

"Hola!"

"Then we have Gary Shaw. They are two of the midfielders," James explained. "We also have Alejendro Bendoya Jr and Johann Pulsic. A Defender and forward," He pointed to two of the younger people. And finally our star Forward Joey Altidore." He pointed to the light skinned man at the end of the table.

He stood up and walked over to the younger forward. "Nice to finally meet you in person. Some of the other players have been going crazy over you."

Stephen laughed as he sat down. "Its not that bad. I just have been lucky to have a good team this year.

"Where do you play? Flower something." Brenden asked.

"Fiore. It does mean flower. I play in Magnolia City."

"Oh yeah, you're the guys that knocked off Barca. That come back was insane. How did you hold off that attack?" Johann asked.

The waitress brought over Stephen's drinks. He took a sip and sighed. "Haven't had Pepsi in a while. Anyway, it's because our team does not know how to quit. That goal I got the credit on, the one that the highlights reels are gonna remember, I knew what Elfman could do. Barcelona didn't and it just worked out.

"Elfman is your?" Gary asked.

"Goalkeeper. He makes your grandfather look like amateur hour Jason. That kick was amazing. If there was wind in Camp Nou, I think he would have gotten a goal."

Jason whistled. "That strong huh?"

Stephen reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. "Yeah, he's pretty strong. I got the pictures."

He pulled up his gallery and swiped it until he got to the picture he wanted. "The big guy is Elfman, the two girls are his sisters Lisanna and Mirajane."

Jason took a look at Elfman and was impressed. He turned his eyes to Mira and almost choked on his spit. "Seriously you get to hang around with girl like her?"

"Not just hang around. She's one of our backs. Lisanna plays on my side of the field.

This got the others to scramble to look at Mira's picture. James smiled. "I forgot Fiore is one of the few Co-ed National teams. It translates to the league level right."

Stephen nodded. "Yep, got a few more for ya." He took the phone and swiped until he got to Erza. "This is our captain, Erza Scarlet. She's in the midfield." The player's jaws dropped further that despite her serious look, she was just as much a looker as Mira. One more swipe and he pulled up Lucy and Natsu. "That's our other female midfielder and our striker and my roommate, Lucy Heartfillia and Natsu Dragneel. We have a bet going on when they'll get together."

The rest of the table digested this. "Um…Not to be jealous. But is your whole team filled with Supermodels?" Brandon asked.

Stephen laughed. "Well, when it comes to girls, they're on par with the majority girl team Mermaid Scale. But yeah, they are gorgeous. And yes we might get to see them if Fiore makes it this weekend."

The two coaches laughed and the group settled down to eat and pass stories around. Johann grumbled as he took a bite. "When I get back we have to play Munich. God that's gonna be heated."

"Don't get me started, Chelsea-Arsenal is soon as well. Talk about an awkward time for the qualifiers," Joey remembered. He turned to Stephen. "Any big rivals in Fiore?"

Stephen sighed. "At least two at least for us. Big one is Magnolia United. We also apparently have a big rivalry with this club called AFC Alverez. The Magnolia rivalry reminds me of the FSU-Florida rivalry. The one with Alverez close to Bama and Auburn. Not the most pleasant of those in the league. From what I understand they need to bring in riot teams for those two matches."

"That bad huh?" Joey asked.

"What do you think? Some of their behavior comes from the Greek Leagues," Stephen replied.

Alejendro raised his hand. "I also heard rumors about some sort of Cold War, is that true?"

Stephen sighed as he finished his bite. "Unfortunately. I hope I don't get caught up. I heard the League makes Spain and Greece look like a Polo league."

James decided to change the topic. "So Stephen, do you have plans to stream anytime soon?"

"Stream? Like play video games for others?" Johann asked.

Stephen nodded. "Not on this trip. But maybe when I get back to Fiore. Been talking with the league about posting highlights on my channel."

"So you play video games and people watch you?" Jason asked skeptically.

"Yep. There are people that compete in competitions like the World Cup. In fact there's a big one going on in Europe that I might be able to watch the VODs for while in Jamaica. Or even live on the plane to New York."

The goal keeper shook his head. "Shouldn't they be playing something realistic?"

Stephen shrugged. "Who knows? All I know is soccer, esports and racing are the big sports among the younger demographic. There's a league for the FIFA games, though not as popular as say Counter-strike or DOTA."

"Stephen here plays not only those games but other games that might interest his audience. He gets paid via donations. I bet the taxes are a nightmare."

"Yeah, and Youtube is a penny pincher. Anyway, none of that cause my equipment is too bulky. So I'll be focusing on making sure Coach here is impressed with my skills."

This got the rest of the group to chuckle. Soon after, they paid and went back to their rooms, Stephen bunking with Johann. As he settled in, he took a look at his pictures on his phone which was charging nearby. Scrolling through, he got to a picture of Lisanna without anyone else. It was at the harbor on one of their earliest outings. With the water behind her and the sun reflecting off her snow white hair, she looked angelic. He smiled and placed the phone back on the nightstand and closed his eyes. They had a flight in the morning after all.

Wednesday October 8th 10:00 AM Fiore Time, Fiore National Stadium

In contrast to Stephen's almost acceptance into the U.S National Team, Natsu was grumbling about the Fiore team. Sure he got along with a few members. But most of them, like the smug bastards from Magnolia United and AFC Alverez was a fight waiting to happen. Thanks to his coach also being the National coach, he had an idea who was on the team this time around. Due to the Red Card during the previous set of qualifiers, his brother wouldn't be playing these two games. He also knew with him as one of the Forwards, one of the Twin Dragons of Magnolia United would be staying home as well. In this case it would be Rouge Cheney, the Black Dragon. But Sting Eucliffe the White Dragon was still going to be there and chances were he would be the other starting forward.

He cursed to himself as he walked onto field. It was the national team stadium instead of the home fields because of its perceived neutrality. Erza unfortunately heard him and smacked him. "Natsu watch your mouth!"

Natsu rubbed the spot. "But Erza, I rather be with stripper than someone from United!"

"Well I don't want play with some who flings glitter all day!" A familiar grating voice taunted.

Natsu's eyebrow twitch. "Well I don't want to deal with a mangy cat. You probably have fleas!"

Sting growled and charged at Natsu intent on taking his head off. Erza was quick and grabbed both of them by their White and blue shirts. "That's enough!" She roared. "You're both representing the National Team. I hate to tell Gildarts that his two preferred strikers would rather sit in a jail cell then play for him!

Natsu gulped as he understood his captain's wraith and wisely shut up. Sting though decided to keep going. "What's it to you bitch? I'm gonna-OW!" Sting was cut as Erza used Natsu as a battering ram and gave Sting a large headache.

"Is that understood?" Erza glared at the blonde striker. The United player huffed and stormed off. Erza sighed. "I have to deal with children."

"Erza!" A bubbly voice squealed. The red head turned and smiled as two women approached her. The energetic voice belonged to a brunette with hair that stuck up to look like cat ears. She had facial tattoos underneath her eyes and her arms were covered in black latex. Her companion was more reserved as trailed behind her friend. She had long purple hair that was held up by a white ribbon. Her legs in contrast to the other woman's arms, was covered in long purple leggings. This was Millianna and Kagura Mikazuchi, defender and Forward for Mermaid Scale respectfully. Both of them wore the Fiore training uniform, which consisted of a White top with blue stripes and grey shorts. The team emblem, the golden crest of the Fiore Royal family in front of a Magnolia tree sat on their left collarbone.

The cat eared woman glomped the captain. "It's so nice to see you again! I mean without us being opponents.

Erza laughed. "Yes. Well, it's always nice to see you, Millianna. Your energy hasn't abated one bit has it." She turned to look at Kagura. "Nice to see you again Kagura. I'm glad Gildarts called you up."

Kagura looked up at Erza. "It's nice to be on the same team that my brother Simon played for. I just hope that I do well."

Erza's smiled fell and placed her hand on the purple haired woman's shoulder. "I miss him too." Simon was a well-known midfielder for two Fiore National teams and played for Heaven's Tower for several years. His death during a robbery gone wrong sent shockwaves through the league and the country. None more so than Erza and Kagura. While Kagura mourned her brother, Erza was suspicious of the circumstances of his death. But until she could find something to confirm her suspicions, she had forgotten about the case.

The three ladies walked onto the field and began their warm ups, while catching up. The rest of the team also began to warm up, but they had separated essentially by team. Erza noticed three men who were entertaining their various ladies on the bleachers. She could only shake her head at the nonsense that were the Trimens of Pegasus FC. Turning her head she spotted members from Alvarez and Bosco. Both clubs had bad reputations, especially the Shields of Alverez. She paid close attention to the green haired woman next talking to Gildarts. She had heard of this, Brandish. Supposedly, she was kicked off two teams for assaulting her teammates. How much that was true and not sexism had yet to be determined. Looking over to Sting, she frowned at the sight of the tan woman talking to the United Forward. This was Minerva Orlando, the presumptive fourth midfielder if she, Eve Torres of Pegasus FC and Brandish were the others. If Fiore was known for one thing, it was keeping the imports to a minimum, Stephen being the most popular exception.

A few moments later, Gildarts whistled to get everyone's attention. "Alright is everyone here?" He looked around and had to sigh internally as the team separated into their own little groups. He knew it was bad, but this was ridiculous. Guess it was time to lay down the hammer. "Listen up!" His order immediately silenced everyone. "I don't care what team you come from. I don't care I coach one of your rivals. I care about showing we're the best team in the world! We're gonna train together, we're gonna travel together. And on Tuesday when come in here with a chance to get into the World Cup, I want a team that I'm proud of"

The team grumbled save for the four players he coached. They knew when Gildarts got serious, it was not pleasant if you're the target of his wrath. They quickly separated into smaller groups by position to work on their team work. Most of the players were not called up in June. Two of those who were, Laxus Dreyer and Zeref Dragneel were either hurt or suspended. He would have called up Natsu regardless, but he wanted to go with Kagura and Laxus with Zeref suspended. With him hurt, he was forced to call up one of his personal team's rivals, in this case Sting. He could put aside team loyalties but some players couldn't.

A half an hour later, Natsu was practicing his passing skills with Eve Torres of Pegasus. As he walked back to the beginning, he spotted someone on the side. It was a black haired young man in a black shirt and pants. His pale skin and coal black eyes seemed to draw you into a black hole. This was Zeref, the lead striker for AFC Alverez. More importantly, he was Natsu's biological brother.

"Zeref," Natsu growled.

The dark haired striker smiled. "Hello little brother."

"I thought being suspended from the upcoming matches, meant you couldn't be here."

Zeref shrugged. "Just because I'm not playing this week, doesn't mean I can't watch my brother play."

Natsu glared at him. "You stopped being my brother when you walked out on us while at the City Academy!"

Zeref chuckled. "Natsu. My dear brother. You should know by now, that Magnolia City is a sinking ship. Your team can't compete with the strongest teams. And if you could, there would be other things stopping you. And you can't prove a thing."

Natsu was about to snap at his former brother when Erza grabbed his shoulder. "No Natsu. Ignore him. He may be a player, but right now he's a civilian. It would look bad on us if you attack him."

The striker huffed and went back to his dribbling drills. Erza took one more look at the dark haired Dragneel brother before walking towards the goal and working on her shooting.

Zeref turned around his eyes turned sad. _You have no idea little brother of everything that's happening in this league. And my role in stopping it. If I'm to take down the puppet masters that threaten our league and our country…then I need to be seen as the enemy._ He took out the necklace he had around his neck and opened it. It was a picture of him and Natsu holding a baby Wendy. _I did this for both of you, my baby brother and sister._ He walked into the tunnel, his face set in a stony frown.

Sunday, October 13th, 8:30 AM US Eastern Time, Hotel in Northern New Jersey.

A ringing from one of the Ipads in the room made the occupants groan. "Damnit, whoever's calling better have a good reason for waking us up on a Sunday morning. I was finally gonna sleep in!" Johann growled.

Stephen blinked his eyes open. "If it's who I think it is, then don't blame them." He groaned as he rolled out and put on some shorts. "They are seven hours ahead. But still doesn't mean I can't give them a piece of my mind." He walked over to his computer bag and pulled out the ringing pad and his headphones. Unlocking it, he pressed the receive call button. He had to shake his head as he saw Natsu, Lucy and Lisanna on screen.

"It's 8 in the morning my time, I really hope you have a good reason to call me on a Sunday.

Lisanna puffed up her cheeks making her look like an adorable chipmunk. _"Excuse me calling at 3 in the morning!"_

"Sorry, not sorry." Stephen grinned. "Anyway, it's nice to see you all again. How was Latvia Natsu?"

" _Cold!"_ Natsu grumbled. _"It's October it's already below 10 degrees Celsius! Stripper would have loved it!"_

"Did you at least win?"

" _You expect any less? It was a 2-1 win, I got one and we had an own goal. Though I still had to put up with some bastards from United. Seriously, I rather put up with Lightingrod than this United ass!"_

"That bad huh?"

" _You'll see when we play them at the end of the month!"_

Lucy decided to take the pad out of Natsu's hand. _"Hey! This is mine! Don't ruin it!"_ The expression on their teammate's face resembled a kicked puppy. Lucy had to hold back from trying to hug him. She turned back to Stephen. _"So did you win?"_

Stephen scoffed. "As if you thought different. 3-0. One of which thanks to my roommate. Johann say hello!" He pulled out his headphones and turned the pad to show his roommate, having rolled out of bed and put something on.

"Hey there. Stephen's told me so much about you. Let's see, pinkie is Natsu," Johann taunted.

" _OI! IT'S SALMON!"_ Natsu roared.

"Sorry. The pretty blonde is Lucy and the blue-eyed Snow White is Lisanna.

This got the young midfielder to blush. _"Stephen!"_

"What? It's true!"

Johann laughed. "I'm gonna go get some breakfast. You talk to your girlfriend."

"We're not dating!" Both of them yelled as the other three laughed. Johann left, leaving the teammates to talk to each other.

" _So, who else is qualifying from CONCACAF?"_ Lucy asked.

"Well, we are. Mexico locked up their spot when we beat Jamaica. That leaves Jamaica, Costa Rica and Cuba to get in depending on the scores. Honduras got knocked out during the last set of games.

" _You actually went to Cuba?"_ Lisanna asked amazed. " _I thought the U.S and Cuba were not speaking with each other?"_

"Well 100 years, plus mortal peril for a majority of these countries can easily mend bridges. Got to say, Cuba's a beautiful country. I prefer what's left of the Bahamas and Hawaii though.

" _So, what do they need to advance?"_ Lucy asked.

"Well…U.S and Mexico's game will be a glorified exhibition match. Cuba needs a win against Honduras and hope Costa Rica doesn't win. A loss would send the other two on, with the outcome determining who goes directly and who gets the CONOMBEL 5th place team. Which I think is…Paraguay?" He then turned serious. "You guys on the other hand need to win out to even think about playing in Spain.

" _We'll win, don't you worry about that!"_ Natsu proudly boasted.

Lucy was about to respond but then looked at her phone. " _Oh my goodness, Natsu we have to go help Erza!"_

" _Wait what?"_ Natsu asked in surprise as the blonde pulled him away. This left the two friends to awkwardly stare at each other.

" _So…how was Jamaica?"_

"It was nice. A lot more mountainous than Fiore but not as much variety in wildlife. Especially the flowers."

" _Yeah, you should see the Magnolia trees in full bloom. Even the fall foliage here is beautiful. Speaking of The harvest festival is coming up at the end of the month and I think you'll enjoy it. The Magnolia derby is scheduled for the end of the festival."_

"Sounds like a date." Stephen said off hand. This stunned both of them as the American realized what he said. "Um…I,"

Lisanna giggled. _"So it wasn't just me wanting more out of our friendship."_ She smiled. _"If you want to make it official…just ask me."_

Stephen sputtered. "Uh…what about Mira and Elfman?"

" _Forget them. I'm 19, I'm a big girl! Your only 21. Its not that bad._

"Alright then. Lisanna Strauss, would you do this humble American an honor and become my girlfriend?"

Lisanna laughed. _"Oh good sir, this fair maiden accepts your proposal!_ _"_ This got both of them to laugh. _"So you think we should hide it from the others?"_

"Yeah. I heard some people betting on us getting together. So what's today's date, October 13th? I think some people had us getting together before the qualifiers not between them. It will be interesting to see who won this one. Also, some people had us getting together before Natsu and Lucy."

" _This's gonna be fun!"_ Lisanna giggled sinisterly. _"Getting something on Mira. She's notorious for her matchmaking!"_

Stephen shook his head. "Go figure. Alright then. I'll see ya when I get back to Fiore, girlfriend."

" _No problem, boyfriend."_ Lisanna hung up and Stephen leaned back in the chair. "So, dating one of my fellow players huh? This will be interesting."

Tuesday, October 15th, 7:00 PM Fiore Time, 12:00 US Eastern Daylight Time.

Natsu sighed as he sat in the home locker room at the Fiore National Stadium. He might have been confident on the outside, but inside he was nervous. Sure, they had won in Latvia, but Poland had beaten Gibraltar and Israel had had drawn against Malta. This meant the pressure was on all three to win. An Israel win today meant whoever won the match between them and Poland would go to the cup while the loser would be knocked out. More pressure would be on them because it's their home crowd.

"Watcha doing Salamander?" A snide voice asked.

Natsu's eye twitched. "Nothing dumb blond!"

"What was that lizard boy?"

Before Natsu could argue, he spotted Erza and wisely kept his mouth shut. Before Sting could gloat Erza kicked him into the locker.

"Eucliffe how many time do I have to break up your fights? Your attitudes are the reason we're in this predicament!"

Sting stood up not even fazed. "Shut up Scarlet! I was doing quite fine with Zeref and Rogue! But your coach insisted on pinky!"

Natsu growled but knowing Erza was there, he decided to keep quiet. Sting scoffed and walked off. Erza turned to her teammate. "Natsu. I know you're better than this. If not for me, then do it for your countrymen. We don't win today, we don't go to the Cup. And you don't want to disappoint Stephen don't you?"

The forward grumbled. "Rather have him than Eucliffe up front with me."

Erza smiled and patted his shoulder. "I know. I bet he's watching in the U.S and supporting us. Just for the sake of today, try to get along with everyone."

Natsu sighed. "Right. I wish Lucy was here too."

Erza's eyes softened. "You care for her a lot don't you?" Natsu said nothing but it was obvious from his reddening face she had her answer. "It's okay. We all do." She turned her hide her face which was also blushing slightly. "Let's focus on today."

The pink haired man nodded. "Alright I'm fired up!"

Fox Announcers Booth 7:30 Fiore Time, 12:30 US Eastern Daylight Time

Jonathan: Good evening soccer fans. Welcome to the last day of UEFA qualifiers. I am Jonathon McFadden alongside Chase Donovan. We are live from the Domus Flau in the capital city of Crocus, where Fiore and Poland are ready to do battle for their World Cup lives. As it stands as we look at the standings for Group E, Israel, Poland and Fiore all have a shot at qualifying. Poland sits on 17 points but has a -1 Goal Difference. Israel is on 14 points also on -1 Goal difference. Fiore is on 15 with +1 GD. The path forward is simple for both teams here today. Regardless of Israel's results, the winner of this match will win the group. A draw will send the Poles in and Fiore potentially out depending on the Israel Malta game. We will of course keep an eye on that game as is custom for all final games are to be played at the same time.

As he spoke, thousands of miles away, Stephen was sitting with a couple of his teammates in a bar near their hotel watching the game. He took a sip of water. "This is gonna be interesting." He muttered as the line-ups popped up on screen. With him were Johann, Branden and Joey."

"So which ones are your teammates?" Johann asked.

"Natsu, the guy with pink hair, Elfman and Mira the two white haired players and Erza the red head," Stephen answered. " I also see Evergreen on the bench. Only other player I recognize is the blond forward Sting, reason being Natsu and by extension the rest of City are not on great terms with United."

"So why is he on the team?" Joey asked. "From what you told me, some of these teams loathe each other with a passion.

"Other than bias?" Stephen replied. "Nationalism has a funny way of uniting people." He closed his eyes and sighed. "We would know that better than any other country."

The thirty year old Joey had to concede that point. The U.S had gotten to the point of near collapse due to several factors. The floods plus the Islamic Civil War ended up uniting the country like never before. Most of the young members of the team had grown up for the first time without having to worry about nuclear war or terrorist attacks. He remembered the last large scale attack, before they became invested in the Civil War. It was a failed coordinated attack on four military bases; Naval Station San Diego, Naval Station Mayport, Norfolk and Mcguire Air Base. It was supposed to knock out the naval power and air support on the Continental U.S involving the weapons introduced into the conflict, the Mechons and the Terrorbites.

Through a stroke of luck, most of perpetrators were caught when they tried to bring the weapons through computer cases and other electronic bags. Due to the prevention of this attack they were able to trace it back to the groups fighting for the Islamic Preservation Front. They were unable to prevent The Sorrows from happening to Israel as they had struck a week prior to the U.S attack. But their support finally ended the war and for the first time in living memory, the Middle East was at peace

"Yeah, nationalism can be powerful tool. So does having a common enemy."

Stephen looked up at the screen. "You know my grandpa talked about the times he grew up. The rise of social media, the near civil war, terror groups scaring everyone. Hard to believe we've never had that."

"You think this peace will continue?" Brandan asked curiously.

Stephen sighed. "Humans, by their nature are violent creatures. There will always be someone wanting to disrupt this. For now, we can play our games without fear of being attacked." He took another sip. "Now then, I want to see Fiore win. I want to play them in the Cup.

"Why?" Johann asked.

Stephen shrugged. "Our team is a competitive bunch. I want to see it when I'm on the other side." He grinned. "Besides, I would think rooting for an underdog has its perks."

His teammates conceded the point and watched as the pre-game continued.

Announcer's Booth

John: When we look at Poland, one name comes to mind. Its Jason Lawandoski of Bayren Munich.

Chase: He's a magnificent striker! He's contributed 6 goals already this year. He's also been the lead scorer for the Polish squad who is looking to make the World Cup for the first time in 8 years. They have to get past a very scrappy team in Fiore.

John: Yes the scrappy team from the Mediterranean. If there is ever a dark horse in the pack field already in the World Cup, it's these Dragons.

Chase: If they're going to reach the World Cup, they're gonna have to do it without two of their best players. Zeref of AFC Alverez is out due to a red card acquired in the Israel game in June. And Laxus Dreyer who suffered a hamstring injury in the opening game of the season. So now they turn to two forwards who on normal days would be serious rivals. Natsu Dragneel of Magnolia City and Sting Eucliffe of Magnolia United.

John: If they're going to be facing off against the rest of the world, they need to put aside their rivalry for at least one game.

Down in the tunnels, the teams were walking from their locker rooms to the tunnel up to take the field. Sting looked over his shoulder and grinned. "Don't screw this up Fairy boy!"

"Shut up cat breath," He lowly growled.

"Everyone! Shut up and let's focus! We're representing this country. Don't embarrass us!" Erza barked. The rest of the team grumbled as they lined up next to the Polish team. At a given signal, the refs led the teams onto the field. The crowd cheered as both teams took the field behind their respective flags. Poland's red and white was to Fiore's left, the team dressed in their white uniform. Fiore's flag fluttered in the wind. It was the Fiore royal crest on a red and blue back ground. They were wearing their home unis, a red top with blue stripes and blue shorts.

A few moments later, the national anthems were played. As the road team, Poland's was played first. The first notes were energetic as if ready to fight a war. Given their history as a conquered nation, the lyrics and the name of the anthem fit the country. As the anthem went out, a small cheer went up from the Polish fans that made the trip.

"And now, Ladies and Gentleman, the National Anthem of Fiore."

Compared to the Polish anthem, Fiore's was much gentler. It was called, "Miracle of Fiore. It was played with mostly string instruments that increased in pitch as the song played. The anthem lyrics was not about a country's pride. Rather it was about unity. Unity that kept them from falling to the Ottomans and the miracle that won them their existence. Unity that kept a country through wars, strife and disasters and miracles that inspire their country. The most powerful part was the Ocarina high note at the end. It went, _"~Where love and Magic come together, Fiore stays strong! Never forget our miracles for they nay wrought without the spirts in our heart. Long live the Fiore Miracle!"_

At the last note, the Pro Fiore crowds cheered as the teams shook hands.

Announcer booth

John: One of the prettiest sounding National anthems we have in soccer.

Chase: Gave me goosebumps thinking about it. But now, it's game time.

John: That's right. Reminder of the stakes. Winner regardless of the Israel-Malta game is guaranteed a play in spot, possibly the winner of group E. The loser might be eliminated. A Tie will depend on the score line. A scoreless tie would benefit Fiore due to head to head. We will keep an eye on the game in Tel Aviv. But now we're ready here at the Fiore National Stadium, Poland to take the ball first. (Ref looks at his watch and then reaches up and blows the whistle) And here we go. Darka takes sends it to Lawandoski. He takes it up field and is met by Scarlet who clears it out down the sideline for a Poland throw in.

Chase: Key to Fiore's game is to stay aggressive and stay focused. Many of these players are not on the best terms with each other. They are hoping that the World Cup is enough of a motivation to unite them. Poland, its simple. Don't make stupid mistakes a scoreless tie will guarantee a playoff spot. Don't give Fiore time to gel. As we saw with Dragneel and Scarlet during their game against Barcelona, if they stay together they are a tough nut to crack. But Poland could take advantage of the disunity between the sides.

In the bar they were at, they couldn't hear it because there were other matches on. But they at least had the subtitles. When Stephen saw them talking about the disunity, he sighed. "Casters I love ya. But please shut up. We know that the teams don't get along." He watched as Sting and Natsu mouthed off at each other. "Natsu will you relax!"

"Is his temper that bad?" Joey asked.

"Yeah. How our team is set up is based on who not only can keep our heads together, but also who plays off our weaknesses. Natsu's very stubborn and hot headed. He also has…a friendly rivalry with Grey Fullbuster which may hurt his side. So they put Lucy, who's a lot more accurate and less prone to outburst and Erza who knows him better than most of our players on his side. For me, my mind tends to wonder a bit when the game's boring and can be slow when I'm not trying. Grey's speed lets him cover me and also take hit for me. Lisanna, owing to her being Mira's sister, has the patience to keep my head on the field."

"And this team doesn't have that?" Alejandro asked.

Stephen shook his head. "Not from what I can see. Putting Erza on his side would help and keeping Minerva on the other side would keep fights to a minimum." He watched as Sting tried to take a shot only for it to go wide. "Unfortunately, the other two midfielders, Eve and Brandish aren't set up right. Both strikers want to attack but the way Poland is set up both of them are going to have to play defense as well. One of the reasons me and Natsu works so well is because I can flex to midfield as needed allowing him to be free."

Johann nodded. "Yeah, we noticed when you roamed through the midfield and set up two of our goals. Got you as the starter for the game tonight over me.

"Well you got the start in Kingston, its only fair I get one," Stephen chuckled.

In Fiore it had been 20 minutes and the score was still scoreless. But it didn't mean other games were.

John: We have a score line from Tel Aviv. Its 1-0 Israel. As it stands, Fiore would be eliminated. Poland takes the ball into the Fiore box. Lawandoski takes it, fires and the male Strauss saves. Great reflexes for the big man.

Chase: Poland is ramping up their tempo. Fiore needs to keep their composure or they will let a goal through.

John: Scarlet takes the ball up to Orlando. She passes it up to Eucliffe who's got a run but he's offside.

Chase: Dragneel was onside and had a better shot. This might be the team rivalry coming in.

On the field, Natsu stormed up to Minerva. "I was wide open!"

"Sorry, I didn't see you for your size!" Minerva mocked.

Erza had to physically hold him back. "Orlando! Natsu had a shot. You knew Sting was offsides!"

Minerva waved her off making Erza scowl. "Get your act together! We got twenty minutes left in the half!"

As she said this, the goal keeper had kicked the ball out and reached one of the Polish midfielders. He weaved past Brandish, before passing it to Lawndoski. He quickly took a shot past Mira who was spun around by the quick movement. Elfman could only watch as the ball went into the net to his right. He immediately started yelling at the defense to get their act together as the Polish fans cheered.

John: Sorga kicks to Jergesn. Weaves around Brandish, passes it to Lawndoski! He's Onside! Shoots it pass the Strauss Siblings and IN! This is a disaster for the Fiore side!

Chase: Some of them were still arguing with each other. This disunity thing might be worst that we thought.

Fiore 0-1 Poland

Lawondoski (POL) 25'

Indeed even Gildarts scowled as the interaction. He knew Sting and Minerva was not going to play nice. But he was forced by one of the higher ups in the Federation to start Sting and Minerva. If it was just Zeref and Natsu at least they could be civil. Changes would be coming at half time at least for the forwards. He looked to his assistant. "Get Kagura ready. She's going in the second half for Eucliffe."

"Sir are you sure that's wise? The Federation might not like it."

"I understand that. Sting being out there was forced by the Federation and one of the other coaches. I'm not going to be pushed around on this. Sting's out, Kagura is in!"

"Yes Sir!" The assistant replied and went to tell the striker

Gildarts watched as the two forwards continued to argue. Twenty minutes later, the half mercifully ended. Sting and Natsu however looked like they were about to kill each other. They at least had the curtesy to wait until they got to the locker room. Once inside, Natsu immediately turned on Sting slamming his fist into the locker.

"What the hell's your problem? I had way more shots than you. We're a freaking team!"

"Yeah well I don't want to be on the same team as a stupid ass Fairy!"

"What was that?" Natsu growled.

Sting grinned, unknowingly sealing his fate. "A Stupid. Gay. Fairy!"

"A pity this Fairy is going to stay on the field." Gildarts' voice rang out. Sting paled at the coach's voice. "I was going to bench you because of your performance. That was before you decided to use a slur against not only your own teammate, but my player."

Sting gulped and looked around looking for support. Even Minerva could see the writing on the wall and decided to stay out of this.

Gildarts looked at Kagura. "You ready to go?"

The Purple haired woman nodded. "Yes."

The coach nodded and turned away. "I'm willing to let this slip by, if no one else talks about this."

The team immediately agreed save for Sting who stewed in the corner of the locker room. He would have his revenge.

Announcer's booth

John: As we start the second half, we remind you what's at stake. A spot in the World Cup and the playoff round. As it stands its Poland and Israel.

Chase: Looks like Fiore is changing up their forwards. Kagura Mikazuchi, of Mermaid Scale is coming on.

John: Perhaps this is the right change. They need two goals and hope they don't let another one in. Elfman's good, but can he stay that way?

On the field Kagura walked up to the ball next to Natsu, awaiting the whistle. "Dragneel." Her serious voice got his attention. "This is the most important match in our careers. I feel like you are the one that will lead us to victory." She gazed at him. "Don't let us down."

Natsu chuckled. "Don't worry. I'm just getting warmed up!"

She turned back to the ref who was about to whistle. "You better be warming up." The whistle blew and she kicked it out towards Minerva who passed it back to Erza. The red head charged and dumped it to Eve who took a shot. The goal keeper had to react quickly and snagged the ball out of the air. He threw it out to one of the defenders who tried to push it back across the line but Erza was on him. A pass to Brandish set up another shot this time by Natsu. The goal was deflected wide for a corner.

At the bar, Stephen was slamming the table. "There we go Natsu! Now that the monkey's off your back, you can compete. Who's got it…Erza Nice!"

"Erza a good corner taker?" Johan asked.

"She's one of the few that could score from that angle. For comparison, I can flex to any position and have a long range on my shots. Erza has the control."

Announcer booth

John: Whatever changes they did at half seems to be working as Scarlet takes the corner for the Dragons.

Chase: She's a really good striker from the corner. Let's see what she can do.

John: Lines up the shot. Fires inNNN! WHAT A HOOK! IT'S 1 ALL HERE IN CROCUS!"

Chase: It's the captain scoring and tying this game. In the words of Natsu Dragneel, this crowd's fired up. A beautiful curve shot, just out of the reach of the keep in the top right corner. And they are back into this game.

Natsu was the first to reach Erza and hugged her tight. "Great shot Erza!"

Erza laughed and rubbed his head. Releasing him she turned to Kagura. The purple haired striker offered her a smile. "Great job Scarlet."

"Thanks Kagura. Come on we got over 40 minutes to get another goal. We can do this!"

"Right."

Fiore 1-1 Poland

Lawandoski (POL) 25'

Scarlet (FIR) 47'

The crowd which had been silent for the last thirty minutes of the half reinvigorated. With the scoreline, there was a chance they'd move on.

Three minutes later the chaos was only amplified by the score coming out of Tel Aviv.

Announcers Booth

John: As if this Group isn't already exciting, Israel just scored again. Its 2-0. That puts…Israel on top on points with 17 and Fiore in second?

Chase: Fiore is ahead of Poland because it was a 2-2 score in Krakow. That's how close the group is. Fiore is currently in the playoff spot because they were able to score two away goals. That's the seventh tiebreaker in FIFA. They are Level on points, goal difference, goals scored and they drew in Warsaw. The next tiebreaker would be the little understood Fair Play points and Fiore would not want it to go that far. They are sitting on several cards including a crucial red card to striker Zeref.

John: Fiore scores that puts them on top, Poland is out on Goal Difference. Poland scores, it eliminates the Dragons. Poland needs two scores. The fans know, the coaches know, the players don't know the score of the Israel game.

At the bar, Stephen's legs were shaking. "Are you serious? They have to go to that many tiebreakers?"

"I didn't realize there was that many." Joey replied.

"This group must have been tight if they had to go that far."

"Excuse me? What game is that?" A US fan asked them.

Stephen turned to him. "Oh, Fiore vs Poland. I play with some of the Fiore players and I want to support them."

"Thank you." He motioned to the barkeep. "Its Fiore Poland!"

The barkeeper nodded and turned on the game on the big screen allowing others to watch. Despite some of the big name countries playing, some of the patrons decided to watch Fiore play. All because one of their country's players supported them.

Sidelines at 65th minute

Gildarts was pacing back and forth. He noticed his assistant waving him down. "What's going on?"

"Israel just scored. We're right now in the playoff spot because of what we did in Warsaw."

Gildarts frowned. "Yeah, but I don't want to run the risk of playing Russia or Belgium. I want another goal so we can qualify directly. Is Millianna ready?"

"Yes. Who do you want to pull off?"

Gildarts had a crucial decision to make. There were three people he could pull, no way he as pulling Erza right now. Each of them had their strengths and weaknesses but Millianna was a wild card. She could easily be one of the better support midfields, but she has a worse attention span than Natsu. In the end, he decided Brandish. Mainly because if Minerva was pulled he would be answering questions and Eve had been productive.

"Brandish. And we're also moving to a more attack oriented offense. We need that goal!"

The assistant nodded and got Millianna to talk to the 4th ref. Gildarts looked up and saw there were 21 minutes left. They needed tempo and fast. Two minutes later, Poland kicked it out of bounds and the substitution was called out.

Booth

John: Substitution coming for Fiore, its Milliana the Cat girl coming on for Brandish.

Chase: They want more power on the front lines. They still need a goal and they have 21 minutes plus extra time to hold off Poland.

Millianna jogged onto the field and looked up at the player. She giggled. "Hey there cutie!"

The midfielder was caught off guard at her energy. This distracted him as Kagura threw it in. She quickly took the ball and raced towards the box. She passed it up to Erza who got a foot on it but it went wide, to the crowd's disappointment.

The change was almost immediate. Millianna's play style didn't score herself a lot of goals. But she did set them especially with Kagura. Her exuberance would drain a lot of people's energy if she was allowed to do as she pleased. With more focus on Erza and Minerva, she was getting that opening. Two minutes later, she was on the attack. She got twenty yards out and decided to take a shot. If it wasn't for a well-timed save, Natsu would have a clean shot for the goal. Natsu slapped the ground frustration imitating the crowd's equal displeasure.

Poland knew it needed to hold on. A tie would see them through. But the 12th ranked nation in the world had to deal with a renewed focus by everyone on the Fiore side. At the 75th minute they had an opening but Mira was too quick and knocked it away.

As they approached extra time, the crowd and the team were anxious.

Announcer's booth

John: As we approach Full time there will 3 minutes added. 3 Minutes for Fiore to win this game!

Chase: You can feel the tension in this Stadium. Three minutes to decide whether or not their team goes onto the World Cup.

At the bar, Stephen couldn't even sit still and had to stand and walk around. He stared at the T.V. "Come on buddy, I know you guys can do it!"

Two minutes into extra time Elfman saved another shot. He rolled it to Mira. She took a glance down field and saw Erza, Kagura and Natsu charging upfield. Knowing this was their last shot, she put all of her power into her leg and launched a rocket down field. The ball sailed and landed outside the keeper's box in front of Kagura. She had a shot, but the goal keeper in desperation ran up to bat the ball away. Instead of hitting the ball, he ran almost full on into the forward knocking her down.

The crown say this and immediately booed. The ref saw it to and pointed straight at the spot, while pulling up a red card. Not only had Poland committed a horrible play, but now because they had burned all of their subs, someone else had to be the keeper.

Announcer booth

John: Mira Strauss launches the ball. It's a beauty and lands in front of Mikazuchi. Bounce AND THE KEEPER TACKLES HER! What A horrible play! The ref is pointing to the spot and pulling out the red card! A complete disaster for the Polish side!

Chase: No excuse for this. Even in a world cup qualifier. And the Dragons are more worried about their forward who is up and walking around. It says something about their toughness of the team. This means however one of the Polish on field players will have to take the keeper's gloves.

John: It's over in Tel Aviv. This penalty shot will decide who wins Group E. Fiore Scores they move on. Poland blocks it, Poland wins. The ref has indicated that this will be the final play. And it's Natsu Dragneel, to take the shot!

Chase: The hopes of a nation rest on this young man's shoulders.

Halfway across the world, Stephen knelt to the floor and started to pray. "God, Vishnu, Sheeva, if you have any interest in this game, please make this shot to go in."

Natsu strolled up to the spot and placed the ball on it. He took a few steps to gather his momentum. The crowd had gone silent anticipating the shot. His team were linked together praying for the shot to go in. He saw none of that except the ball and the keeper. He faintly heard the whistle blow and began his windup. He stuttered two steps before firing a laser to the defender's right. The defender with no experience in goal could only watch helplessly as the ball sailed by him. Natsu immediately began celebrating as almost the whole team mobbed him in celebration.

Announcer Both

John: Dragneel sets up. This is for the game. (Ref whistle) Here we go. Natsu begins his run FIRES AND SCORES! THIS STADIUM HAS COME UNGLUED!

Chase: All of the infighting, all of the politics. For one day at least, Fiore is as united as ever. And its thanks to the boy they call the Fire Dragon.

John: Its 2-1 Fiore, Poland kicks it and the ref blows his whistle and Fiore of all sides will go onto the World Cup! Poland is gone and Israel will fight for a playoff spot. But for now all eyes are on the men and women of the Fiore National Team.

At the bar, Stephen felt a tap and looked up to see Fiore had won the game. He laughed and let out a whoop. Joey chuckled. "You happy?"

"Yeah. I can't wait to play them next year," Stephen replied.

Joey chuckled. "You know what? So do I.

The two forwards watched as Fiore celebrated their qualification. For one day all talks of a Cold War would end. But soon, the league would be fired up with rivalries. And some snubs would be hard to forget.

 **END OF CHAPTER**

 **UO: Oh my god why did any update take this long. Nakama United Chapter 15 was supposed to go up before this but its stuck in editing. So have this to tie you over. It shouldn't be long and I will finally start chapter 16.**

 **Preview: As the League rolls on, Derbies are around the corner. And the Magnolia Derby is one of the fiercest on the continent. For the newcomers, it will be their first taste of a rivalry that's sent fans and players to the hospital. And their trial by fire will end in blood.**

 **Next Time: Bloody Magnolia: United vs. City**

 **Next update will be Nakama chapter 15. Once that goes up I would be able to focus on two different chapters so expect faster updates, hopefully.**

 **Please Review Kindly. Also check out my pals, Lalapie203, Spartan719, Code-Emperor07, Kurogane 7, Soleneus, Soulsilverlord, Vanishing Raptor, Kage Bijuu, Giratina Zero EvashinobiKaiserKnight Kamen Rider Super-Fan and NorthSouthGorem. I help on a lot of their works. Also call me out on mistakes.**

 **One last thing, I have a Forum to discuss future ideas. Its on the Writer's United Forum under UnitedOsprey1991 ideas and discussions.**

 **OSPREY...SWOOOSH**


	9. Bloody Magnolia United vs City

**OSPREY…SWOOSH**

 **UO: Okay! Now that I have a cowriter for Journeys, I can focus on two stories at once. Now let's get right to the (Explosion) REALLY?**

 **Stephen: Holy cow, this rivalry between Sabretooth and Fairy Tail is insane**

 **Lucy: (Ducks) What was I thinking joining this team. THEY'RE INSANE!**

 **UO: Well I didn't want to do this. (Pulls out dog whistle and blows. The Dragon slayers scream in pain. Only for Wendy of all people to knock it out of his hand.**

 **Wendy: (growling) Not cool**

 **UO: (White eyes) Someone do the disclaimer**

 **Lucy: (Recovered)** **Unitedosprey1991 doesn't own Fairy Tail or any teams mentioned, he only owns this plot and** **Stephen**

 **UO: Start the show**

Normal text: Speaking or normal talking

Person's name followed by a colon: In-game announcer

 _"Quotes and Italics: Conversation over phones, T.V and computers._

' _Apostrophe and Italics': Thoughts_

 **Bold: Yelling**

Underline: Location

Chapter 9: Bloody Derby, United vs City

Thursday, October 29th 2069, Magnolia City Dorms, day after the Real Crocus game

When we last left Magnolia City and their players, they had finished their qualifiers for the World Cup. Whereas the U.S had already locked up their spot in tournament, Fiore had to battle Poland and Israel to get their spot in the Cup. Thanks to Natsu and Erza they successfully qualified eliminating the Poles.

After the World Cup qualifiers, the Domestic and International competitions restarted. Sprinkled between their game against Cerberus FC and Real Crocus were two games outside the First Saint League. The more important game was the Champion's League match against German Side Wolfsburg. Thanks to a goal by Stephen Decatur, they now had nine points and were top in their group ahead of Barcelona.

The other game was the Round of 32 of the Mavis Cup. Considering it was a less prestigious tournament than the Fiore Cup, Makarov saw no reason to use all of his starters. Instead, he used players like Mest, Romeo and the three active members of the so called Thunder God Tribe. Thanks to goals by Romeo and Evergreen, they beat their opponents, Tier 3 side Enca 3-0.

On the domestic league side, it was a productive last two games. After everyone came back, the first game was against Cerberus FC. With goals by Lucy and Lisanna and an impressive performance by Elfman, they secured their 6th clean sheet. The game they played the previous day however saw their win streak end but not their unbeaten streak. They went down 2-0 before a furious rally by Stephen and Natsu salvaged a draw against Real Crocus.

But now all hands were on deck for the next one. It was time for the Magnolia Derby, to be held November 3rd, that Sunday. It was the biggest game this early in the season, at least until both Magnolia teams play Alverez. With City in first and having not lost this year, United was looking to knock the fairies of their pedestal. Even without the pressure of the standings, this rivalry was fierce. This was not helped by when the game fell this year. The Magnolia Harvest festival was one of the biggest festivals of the year in Fiore, up there with the Fantasia Parade and their version of Carnivale to celebrate the beginning of Lent. To cap off the Festival, one of the home town teams, typically on alternate year basis would play at home while the other played early in the week.

This year, the schedule had the first Derby of the year played at United's Tiger Den on the last day of the festival. While to most this would be seen a way to drum up interest, to those who know the supporters and by extension, knew the supporters of most of the teams were party animals. Give them an excuse to drink and fool around, they would take it. Unfortunately like most soccer fans, even the most casual fan, beer plus a fierce rivalry equals a recipe for potential disaster. A last minute plea to move the game to the early afternoon fell through so the game would be played at 6PM Local time.

But in the darkened apartment of Stephen and Natsu's the occupant's minds were far away from the upcoming game. Instead, Lucy and Lisanna were hugging each other closely as Stephen went through the game Outlast streaming it to his fans. And he was approaching a very gory part of the game.

"Alright finally out of the sewers, gods this place is messeDDD! UP!" He shouted as he saw two people coming right at his character with the sped up music as a backdrop. "This is not a moment to be the black guy!" The two girls screaming in his ear were not helping. "And Lucy and Lisanna are screaming in my ears." He immediately ran away trying to dodge the two knife wielding maniacs. He finally reached a dumbwaiter and took him up. His relief was short lived as a mad doctor appeared and grabbed the character before strapping him to the chair.

As the doctor rambled on, Stephen was glancing at his chat wheel. "Gory section coming up? Thanks a lot." He turned to see Lucy and Lisanna already trembling. He turned back to the chat. "I have a feeling all you wanted to see was the girls screaming." He watched as the doctor strapped the character to another chair.

"I don't think I'm getting out of this with all of my limbs intact." Sure enough, the doctor cut of two of the fingers. The doctor was distracted and pulled away, giving him enough time to find a way out. He finally found the exit from the segment, watching as the doctor was crushed by the elevator. He found a place to relax and catch up with the subscribers. Before he could the door slammed open. This made everyone yelp or in the cases of the girls scream their lungs out.

Stephen turned to the door and saw Erza in the door. "Oh…my…god Erza…you nearly gave me a heart attack!" He said as he tried to catch his breath.

Erza frowned and walked towards him. "Are you all alright I heard screaming?"

"Yeah. Luce and Lisanna were scared of the game. Sorry we should have kept it down." Natsu explained.

"Game?" Erza raised an eyebrow and turned to Stephen who was sitting at the computer.

"Yeah, was playing a scary game. Halloween is tomorrow and I thought it was appropriate to play a horror game. Come closer to the camera." Stephen waved her over. "Chat, this is our team captain Erza Scarlet. Erza, say hello.

Erza stuttered. "Um…hello, its nice to see meet you." The chat started speeding up, with greetings and compliments. "I didn't realize I get this type of reaction."

"It helps that a. You're really pretty. B. I've had nothing but compliments for most of our team." He turned back to the chat. "She's a little shy for public speaking, but she's a terror on the field. Rather her than me be the team captain."

Curious the redhead sat down between Natsu and Lucy. "So what exactly is this?"

Stephen turned to the chat. "Sorry if you heard this before guys. So, I'm of the few pro athletes with an active Lets play channel and sports career. I play the games, I make people laugh and cheer and they donate money. I'm live streaming this to other people around the world and upload videos to my Youtube channel where I get money from advertising revenue. So in essence, I'm making money from both playing in the First Saint League and making videos."

"People actually…watch this stuff?" Erza asked.

"Yeah, its really fun!" Natsu praised.

"Yeah, taxes suck though. Especially being American," Stephen grumbled. "There is three types of LPers. There's people like me, who stream and make random videos while doing commentary. There's people who make a series about one game and do it like a walkthrough. And then there are actual people that are in competitions not unlike the First Saint League, we call it esports."

"Is this what you were talking about on your Twitter feed?" Erza asked.

"Yeah, damn Koreans always one better that every other region in the world. Whatever. So if you want to sit and relax, I still got a lot of game to go."

Erza, intrigued, made herself comfortable as Stephen caught up with his subscribers. As he went through a quieter yet just as tense moment of the game, one of the chat members asked if they could do something with the team.

"A LP with the team…Erza?"

"I think it will be a great experience. But we need to work on some of the logistics," The redhead replied.

"Yeah, because of several tournaments coming up, we might not have the luxury of being available on weekends." Stephen pointed out. "Clearly not this week, we got a big game this week. Maybe…closer to end of the month. I think after we get done with Champion's League groups we are mainly focused on the domestic cups."

"If its not going to take much, we can do it the either after a home game, or the day after." Erza replied.

"Other than setting up and having some time set aside for it, I just need to come up with some games to do." A loud bang caught his attention. "Jesus Christ!" He tried to calm himself down. "This game will kill me looong before United will." This got everyone to laugh at his grumble. He saw another common question. "Who's united? Yeah who are they? Hehe, seriousness though, they are Magnolia City largest rivals. Think, for you England fans, the Merseyside or the Manchester Derby. For Americans, think Red Sox-Yankees or Giants-Cowboys. I personally like Seminoles-Gators.

A couple more comments filtered through as he finally got back inside. His phone started to go off, his twitter getting notifications.

"Hm?" He picked up and saw the message. _White Dragon, Watching some stupid Fairy play his dumb game. #Get a life._ His eyebrow twitched at that. "Erza? Which Magnolia United player is White Dragon?"

Before Erza could answer, Natsu snarled. "That dumb blond Sting! Why I oughta give them a piece of mind. He went onto his twitter and replied to it. _White Dragon. At least he can play it, I'd bet you piss your pants playing it. #CITYVUNITED_

Erza groaned. "Natsu, I am telling you to relax, we are trying to watch the game.

"I don't want a twitter…war…too late," Stephen groaned. "Okay, find me Sting's ID on here, if he's got one. You guys are normally cool with the insults, he should be easy to find." A few moments of searching later, he found one name, Dragonforce10, being disruptive. "Okay, Dragonforce10, if this is Sting, respond.

Dragonforce: Yeah it's me stupid Fairy.

"I'm gonna cut to the chase. Either behave or the ban hammers is coming down. And if you hide behind free speech, my stream, my rules. I give people three strikes. Your on strike two. Your first one was the Twitter response, your second was getting my fans riled up.

Dragonforce: Like I care what you say.

"Alright, I warned you." And with a click, the account was banned. "And don't bother trying to SWAT me, I know that trick. You call them on me, I will hunt you down."

"SWAT?" Lisanna asked.

"It means calling the police in the middle of a stream and having the streamer arrested on camera. You guys are all cool and wouldn't do that. He was being idiot. Alright back to the game."

Crisis over, they continued with the game, sans the disruptive influence. Two hours and 10 near heart attacks later, they finished the game.

"Wow, so, this is extremely messed up. But I overall liked the game, don't know about my audience," Stephen sheepishly laughed.

"You jerk!" Lisanna pouted. "If I knew this was gonna be scary I would have not said anything!"

"Come on Lisanna, it was fun!" Natsu told her.

"Yeah for some of us!" Lucy snapped.

Stephen sighed as the group bickered. "Yeah, this is what I have to deal with on a normal basis. Thankfully, Grey isn't here, otherwise I'd be looking for a new apartment."

"We're not that bad…" Natsu began.

"You've started four fights, since the end of the Real Crocus game," Erza pointed out.

"And that was yesterday," Stephen told his audience. "Anyway, I will definitely play again sometime next month, got to figure out a schedule. Um…I don't know if this is ready but I may, MAY, have the ability to broadcast a game on my channel soon. Only thing missing is a guy who can speak English so you can understand what's going on. We take the field on Sunday, Magnolia City vs Magnolia United at the Tiger Den. It's gonna be bloody from what I hear. Let's see…its 6PM Fiore Time, stupid because there's a festival this weekend and people are gonna be drinking. That puts it…5 UK Time, 6 Central Europe, Noon or 11 US Eastern, because DST ends this weekend and subtract as needed for the rest of the country. Do the time conversions for the others. I am Stephen Decatur, it's been a pleasure and I will see you next time. Remember stay true to yourself and you will never be conquered. Later!" With that he turned the camera off and sighed. He looked the clock on his computer. "Only 9:30." He stretched out the kinks in his arms. "Still some time to look at a couple of other vids."

"Well, you do that, I'm gonna go to my room and hide under the covers!" Lucy said rushing out the door.

"Don't let the killer doctor get you!" Stephen called out.

"Fuck you!" Lucy screamed extremely unladylike. Natsu followed her to escort her to her room. Erza soon followed leaving Lisanna in the room.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, though I may not be able to sleep well, thanks to all of the blood and junk," Lisanna pouted.

"Sorry. Sweet dream," Stephen said kissing her cheek, making the midfielder blush as she left the room.

The American laughed as he moved his computer back to his room. "This has been so fun keeping it from everyone." He set his computer and attached his charge plug. "Let's see…set the stream for upload…might split it up. Let's see…I know League championship final is this weekend." He started looking up some other stuff. "Oh? They're already announcing the next DOTA major after London? Wonder where it will be?" He clicked it on the link and slowly widened his eyes. "No freaking way…Crocus is the next one? When is it? End of April? Oh man! Stupid schedule for that time of year!" He pulled up the team schedule. "Let's see, cups should be mostly done by then…Darn it. Road game against Real Crocus, means we could have gone there and still watch at least one day of the tournament."

"What tournament?" Natsu asked coming back in.

Stephen looked up and smiled. "One of the esports tournaments is coming to Fiore. Crocus to be exact. Its gonna be at the end of April, when we face Real Crocus in Crocus. We could hopefully go up the day before and see some of the tournament. But I doubt Gildarts and Makarov would want us to go see it that close to the end of the season."

"Guess you're right," The American sighed. He then turned back to his computer. "Really hope I can show off what I really like outside of soccer to you all."

"Yeah, these esports things look cool." Natsu admitted. "Anyway good night."

"Night." Stephen replied. He sighed. "9:30, anyone online…doubt it…ugh…let's see what anime's on."

Other side of town, Magnolia United dorms (Two hours prior)

"FUCK!" A loud male voice shouted in his dorm room. Sting Eucliffe growled as he glared at the computer. He just been kicked off the stream he was watching and was mad at the person who had the audacity to speak to him like that and kick him off the channel.

"Who the hell does he think he is, banning someone like me? I probably brought more viewers to that dumb stream?" Sting roared.

"He does have a point," His roommate, Rogue Cheney, replied. "It was his channel and you were being disruptive. Freedom of speech, regardless of country is supposed to be protected. The legal grey area for these LPers allows them to play these games without too much hassle. If a copyright holder says to take down the video however, they have to take it down."

"Yeah, well how do I go and do that?" Sting asked intrigued.

Rogue shook his heads. "They changed the policy when several fake accounts were used to take down videos that weren't being monetized. He falls under the U.S DMCA. As long as he follows the rules of Fiore, which are pretty liberal, he's not gonna get into legal trouble."

Sting scoffed. "Playing these games are a waste of time, he should be preparing to lose to us."

"Then why does he have more goals than you Sting," A seductive voice asked the third person in the room. The two forwards turned to see their teammate Minerva Orlando, Fiore national and their captain in the midfield. "Both he and Natsu Dragneel have a combined 10 goals…how many have you two scored? Seven?"

Sting looked away. "They might have more goals than us, but they haven't face us, the best team in the league."

"Yes, we are the best team, and this Sunday we're going to prove it!"

"Yes we shall," Minerva purred, walking away. Once out of earshot, she giggled. "We already know the refs for Sunday, and they better call it right if they know what's good for them." She giggled sinisterly.

Next day Magnolia festival, late morning

The city of Magnolia was in a festive mood. Stalls lined the main streets, multiple decorations covered the buildings, thousands of people crowed the sun drenched walkways. The Magnolia Harvest festival was indeed the biggest carnival in the town.

Stephen held up his phone as he took in atmosphere. "Hey there guys, Stephen Decatur here and I decided to do a little…travel blog. So Lisanna, my co-partner in crime, where are we?"

Lisanna giggled. "This is the Magnolia Harvest Festival. One of the largest festivals we have here in Fiore, and the largest one outside of our capital Crocus."

"So what does this Magnolia Harvest Festival entail?"

Lisanna tapped her chin as they walked "Well…its to celebrate the farming culture of Magnolia and Fiore's past. Outside the port area and the cities, we have large amounts of farmland. We have vineyards, which is like the majority of the Mediterranean, dairy farming, the milk is really good. Um…oh! We also got delicious grapes and strawberries!"

"Don't strawberries need a lot of moisture?"

"A lot of the northern areas have berry farms and they get some rainfall. Along the coast are stuff like olives and pomegranates. I love them."

"And they get really messy," Stephen teased. "I remember you and Mira having some and her face made reminded me of a clown." He laughed at the adorable pout she gave him. A few seconds of watching the crowd later, they began their tour through the crowd.

Lisanna watched with happiness as her boyfriend took in the sights with a childlike glee. She watched as a few fans approached them and he got them in his shot. They approached a food stall which sold some sort of spicy chicken.

"So what's this?"

Lisanna smiled. "This…is Fire Chicken. Seven different spices and baked to a golden brown. Apparently this is mild, but its too strong for my taste. Natsu's so far the only that can handle the extremely spicy one."

"Oh let me try it," Stephen offered. He took a sample bite and chowed down. At first it wasn't so hot, but then the aftertaste kicked in and he was glad he brought some water.

"Definitely mild at first but damn it kicks in. Like a literal fire!" He said after taking a drink.

"That's why it's the best chicken there is," A familiar voice cheered. The secret couple turned to see Natsu and Lucy bounding up to them.

"And what do you know, its our teammates Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfillia! So lovebirds, how are you enjoying the festival?"

This got the two to sputter and blush. Lucy noticed the phone. "Are you seriously recording us?"

"Yes, I'm recording you two. Its called vlogging. And this is to help expose my fans to Fiore," Stephen answered. "Reminder to edit that out. Anyway, I've decided to do some more of these as we move through the season."

"Really? Awesome!" Natsu cheered. He turned and picked up a couple pieces of the extra spicy chicken and gobbled it down. "Delicious! This place is amazing!"

"Don't you come here every year?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, so?"

Lucy shook her head. "Never mind. So what about you two?"

Stephen smiled. "Well, I've never been here so Lisanna has offered her services as a tour guide," he said coolly.

Lucy raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Right…so are you enjoying the festival?"

"Oh yeah big time!" Stephen replied. "Normally not the biggest fans of festivals but this is so colorful and full of energy." He held up his phone. "Anything to say to fans in America?"

Lucy rubbed her head. "Yeah. Um…hi there America. in case you don't know me, I'm Lucy Heartfillia, and this is Natsu Dragneel."

"Yo! What up!"

"And we're really glad Stephen's here. He's been such a great friend to all of us!"

"Yeah, he could kick anyone's butt!" Natsu boasted.

"Oh really?" A snide voice called out. Everyone turned to see a blond man in a blue fur short coat and black skinny jeans and dark hared man in a black cloak and pants. "Way I see it, he hasn't proved anything."

Stephen handed his phone to Lisanna and whispered her to keep rolling. Turning back to the blond, he recognized them as the two forwards from Magnolia United. "I haven't needed to prove myself to anyone. I'm well aware that City hasn't faced the big dogs yet. But it doesn't mean I haven't already proven myself to my team and my fans."

"What fans, those losers on the internet?" Sting taunted.

"Those losers, Mr. Eucliffe are fans. I may not be the best gamer out there. Heck there are people who could outplay me with their eyes closed," The American said calmly, temper wanting to explode. "But even if suck or play several hours ahead, guess what, they still find a way to watch me."

Sting growled and tried to grab the American by his shirt. Unfortunately, Sting slightly underestimated his size as Stephen was about two inches taller and thirty pounds heavier. The 21 year old squeezed the blond's wrists.

"You touch me again outside of the pitch, and you're gonna need a dentist to put your teeth back in your jaw "

Sting was about to retaliate but Rouge grabbed his shoulders. "Sting, enough. Save it for Sunday."

In a moment of intelligence, Sting relented. "Yeah, that's right. All you Fairies are going down on Sunday!" The blond boasted as the two United players left them be.

Stephen scoffed. "What a load of idiots."

Lisanna gave him back his phone and turned the camera off. "I knew you could handle yourself, but they are right. They might be gunning for you on Sunday."

"Good," He said getting the others to gawk at him. "More focus on me, less on you guys. I'm ready for a fight."

Natsu recovered first. "Awesome, I bet you're all fired up!"

"You know it!" The American pounded Natsu's fist. After the small argument with the United players the couples separated. Stephen and Lisanna went into a quieter part of the ally.

Lisanna looked at the American who was filming the sites. "Did you mean what you said?"

"About?"

"Taking all the attacks that United might throw at us."

Stephen sighed and turned off his camera. "I always believed that if a team has to focus on taking on another player, it opens up other people to take up the mantle." He looked at his girlfriend. "I'm giving you guys an opportunity to do well."

"But…" Lisanna whimpered. "This game is going to be brutal. Will you be alright?"

Stephen chuckled. "I'll be fine. I've taken a lot worse than what they could dish out." He kissed her head. "And I will figure out what's wrong with this league."

"Even if it means going against the big wigs?" Lisanna asked.

"Especially the bigwigs!" Stephen confirmed. "If what I suspect is true, someone high up is keeping this under wraps. Which probably means they might have ties to the government."

Lisanna widened her eyes. "Is the crown involved?"

Stephen shook his head. "No, I don't think they go that far. FIFA might have its problems, but it made clear that government intervention of a soccer federation is a no go. They've kicked out teams for government interference, most recently they tossed Egypt out of the African qualifiers for religious persecution of the team."

"So…its someone in charge of the Federation that's allowed this," Lisanna theorized.

"There are definitely more people than just the federation. Bookies and business interests would be the most likely culprits."

The white haired girl chewed her lip. "I…may have a way to at least get some preliminary information. I still regularly talk with some of the crew that me, Mira and Elf grew up with. If there's any illegal activity, they would know."

"Could you get in touch with them after we play on Sunday?"

Lisanna nodded. ."Yeah, I can tell Mira I'm going to visit and she can make something to give them. She doesn't have to know."

Stephen smiled. "Alright, sounds like a date."

The snow haired girl giggled. "Some date, hope you have something else planned, my strong lion."

Stephen smirked. "I'll think of something kitten."

After that, they switched topics and continued their trek through the carnival, no one the wiser that they were dating.

Sunday November 1st, 5:00 PM Tiger's Den Visiting Locker Room

Natsu was shaking with excitement as he got ready to go warm up. It was his first real match against United and he was fired up for the match coming up.

"Natsu!" Stephen called out to him. The pink haired forward looked up to his roommate. They were in their third uniforms, a black shirt with red pants, because the Home Uniforms for Magnolia United, a solid red uniform were too close to their road uniforms.

"You ready to go?" He asked.

"I'm fired up!" Natsu responded enthusiastically. They quickly caught up to everyone else as they exited the tunnel. The cacophony of boos rained down almost immediately as they took the field. Stephen noticed people that looked like police all along the sidelines. To their left on the far side of the field there was a group of officers fencing off the City supporters from the United fans.

"Geez, the cops are already out in force?" Stephen asked.

"This is considered one of the more violent rivalries in Fiore," Erza responded. "The fact that it's the end of the festival and people have been drinking all day and the police are more than concerned it will get ugly."

"More worried about those stinking Tigers than ours!" Natsu growled.

Erza conceded the point. "Regardless, the history with this game will probably meant either the officials will either be quick on the foul calls or content in letting this turn into a bloodbath." She then remembered something. "And to make sure the calls are correct, the Video Assistant Referee will be implemented in this game.

"Video whats it now?" Natsu asked confused.

"Video Assistant Referee," Stephen clarified. "Its essentially a video replay seen in the NFL and MLB. Fiore was selected to be one of the test leagues ahead of the World Cup. Essentially, another group of refs can signal the on field refs if they made a mistake."

Erza nodded. "Correct. If memory serves, they can only review four calls. Red cards, goals in which an infraction occurred, fouls and whether or not the right person got a card. If I know United, there might be more than a few times the ref won't call a penalty. Be on your guard. They're not the only team that likes to play dirty."

Stephen glanced over at the bench, seeing the coach of Magnolia United. It was a large middle aged man with black hair and extremely serious expression. "I can imagine why."

Lucy jogged over with a ball in hand. "Come on we should finish warming up!"

Natsu nodded and walked over to her. He leaned down to her ear. "You're nervous aren't you?"

Lucy gulped and nodded hesitantly. Natsu wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Don't be scared. We got each other's back. Don't let that stupid Tiger get you down."

The blonde nodded. "Right, just don't do anything stupid and get a red because your ego was bruised."

Natsu laughed. "Chill out Luce, we're gonna kick their butts!" He grabbed the ball and placed it on the ground. "Let's get out there and win."

"Right!"

The two quickly got into their warm up kicks and stretches, all the whie nervously anticipating the coming game.

Announcer booth Hall hour to kickoff

Chamati: Good evening ladies and gentlemen. We are live at the Tiger's Den here in Magnolia, Fiore. Its Derby Week and in Magnolia, it means one thing. City Vs. United. I am Chamati Lola alongside Jason Thompson. El Classico, Manchester, Milan and Schalke vs Dortmund. Those are all some great rivalries in football. However for the sheer hatred between two teams, few can match the Magnolia Derby. Jason why is it that this rivalry attracts international attention when many others like Greece's Mother of All Battles does not?

Jason: It has to do with the fact that Magnolia is such a visible part of Fiore. United has always been considered the better of the two squads when it comes to the trophy cabinet. But when the play City, something in them triggers and its not uncommon to have two or more players sent off. And it isn't just for fouls. Games in years past have had players get into fights that's resulting in ejections and suspensions.

Chamati: Looking at the standings, there's more at stake this time around. City is in first place with 7 wins and a draw for 22 points. United is in 4th on 14 points with 4 wins 2 draws and 2 losses

Jason: The three draws have come from being on the road as this is only the third home game for United, the first of three straight. But it must burn something fierce to see their crosstown rivals at the top of the table. They've done okay against the better teams in the league, but they've lost to Pegasus a team that's struggling near the bottom of the table and a draw against Real Crocus is not the way they gain points.

Chamati: If they want to get back to the top of the table, the two Dragons out front need to step up.

Jason: Rogue Cheney and Sting Eucliffe as a tandem are among the best duo strikers in the league. But they are especially prone to being aggressive. Eucliffe is sitting on four yellow cards, and one more would mean missing the next game against Mermaid Scale. Cheney is on three and Orlando is on three as well. They are very aggressive and that aggressiveness has been their Achilles heel this year.

Chamati: Switching gears, on the opposite side of the cards spectrum, Magnolia City has a combined nine cards across their entire line-up. One of the many reasons they have 7 wins and 1 draw domestically and almost guaranteed a spot in the Round of 16 in the Champion's League.

Jason: One of the reasons for that is their captain Erza Scarlet. She has been the starter in almost every game for City across all competitions and her leadership has been valuable in keeping these personalities in line.

Chamati: Like the two forwards?

Jason: What else can be said about Natsu Dragneel and Stephen Decatur? (Replay of one of Natsu's goals against Oak Town) These two boys have been in sync ever since Laxus Dreyer went down week 1. Combined they have 7 goals and have assisted in a plethora of others. The line-up they are putting out tonight is the same one they've had since their match against Barcelona and even though they had a small hiccup against Cerberus, they are trending way up here in Fiore and in Europe.

Chamati: We will see after today's game. But I feel that there will be some fireworks.

In the tunnel Magnolia City was lining up to enter the field. Lucy shook from her place in line, all their backs turned away from the entrance.s Stephen who was standing behind her grabbed her shoulder gently. "Relax Lucy."

"Sorry…its just that this game feels different. I'm scared of what will happen."

Stephen sighed. "You want to know something? I'm scared too." He admitted shocking the four closest to him. "I'm scared that this game will bring out the worst in me and I'm scared of letting you guys down." He took a deep breath. "There's a reason you and Lisanna are in the midfield, we need some way to keep our heads in the game."

Before any of them could answer, Erza got their attention from in front of them. "Look sharp! It's showtime!" She barked. She ran down the line hi-fiving everyone as they all fell in behind her. A few moments later, they exited the tunnel to a chorus of boos. The kids they were with were frightened by the 84000+ crowd all booing them, or rather the players they were with. A look at many of the players eased them somewhat as they approached the center of the pitch.

The booing turning to cheering as the first strings of United's entrance music kicked in. At the drum beat Stephen groaned. "Enter Sandman? Really?"

"It fits I guess." Lisanna said but he could barely hear her. As typical with this song, when the song kicks up at a sports game the crowd goes nuts. And the United crowd easily was rocking the stadium. At the guitar build up, Erza tried to talk to everyone as the music got louder, but even her voice wasn't loud enough to get through. At the end of the buildup, two sets of fireworks went off and everyone turned to the other side of the field to see a fog machine pouring out smoke. Out of the smoke, the 11 starters for Magnolia United led by Minerva Orlando came out to the roar of the crowd. Many of them had confident swaggers to their walks. Who could blame them, they were the current champions and they were facing their rivals.

Finally reaching midfield they paused on the other side of the line briefly to allow photographers to take their pictures. Then both teams turned and began to shake hands. Even in the handshake, the teams were struggling not to try to lash out against each other. This was apparent when Natsu got to the end of the line and shook Sting's hand.

"Your team's going down pinkie," Sting growled.

"You wish, pussy cat," Natsu growled.

This was apparently the wrong thing to say as Sting reared back to punch him. Minerva, either because she read the situation or because she wanted to see the blond's reaction, grabbed the forward's jersey. Stephen knowing Natsu would react had done the same, with Erza coming to assist.

Announcer booth

Chamati: Its already getting chippy, Dragneel and Eucliffe exchanging words, their captains having to pull them away.

Jason: There was some rumblings of division in the qualifier against Poland. If I had to guess, Eucliffe did something to really tick off Gildarts to the point he would bench him for Kagura Mikazuchi. As the two team captains approach each other, the stadium is still shaking from the song as it winds down.

Chamati: The teams are set for the 220th Magnolia Derby with City surprisingly leading the records at 92W-47L-81 across all competitions. Since the First Saint League was founded in 1920, there has always been a Magnolia team represented. City, in the middle of return to form has not been dropped in a decade. United has been in 1st tier since before Floods dissipated. This is the 90th year both teams are in the same division, most of them have been in the First Saint League. If there is a rivalry in Fiore, this is it. (Whistle) And here we go, United takes the ball first. They are in their yellow and white home uniforms. City is in their Black and Red. Eucliffe takes it and is met easily by Decatur who knocks it away for a throw in the defensive half.

Jason: Keys to the game: For United, keep your composure. They know it's a rivalry game, but if they lose their heads, City can pounce. Also they need to put pressure on the wings. Take them out of the game and they'll force Decatur to play back. He's the most dangerous when his wing can keep pressure off him. For City, similar to United, keep their heads cool as we see a foul on Scarlet. Dragneel looks like he wants to have words with Cheney. They are in a very hostile environment. Also their backs need to slow the two forwards and center midfield. Mira Strauss and Gajeel Redfox need to keep their focus when these two forwards get free. From a physical standpoint, United's got a lot going for them. But City's not on top of the standings for nothing. Finally get the crowd out of the game. They have been in hostile crowds before, Barcelona being the big one, but being in their first rivalry game for most of this team could rattle them.

Chamati: Eucliffe gets free, has an opening and it sails wide for a goal kick. He looked to be offsides.

Jason: (Replay) Rufus passes it…and he's clearly behind Connell. Ref might not have seen it.

Chamati: Elfman lines up and launches it down field. Scarlet leaps up intercepts it. Corrals it, passes it to Decatur who's got a clear shot, but the flag's up and the shot goes wide as well.

Jason: Okay, this should not have been called offsides. The American timed his run almost perfectly. If the ref can't get control of this game, its gonna get ugly.

Stephen noticed the same thing as the announcers. Rather than get upset, he jogged over to Lisanna who was on that side. "You saw the flag man right?"

The midfielder nodded. "The flag was going up the moment you broke."

He turned back to see the goal keeper ready to windup. "Next time you get it, dump it to me, I got an idea."

Orga scanned the field and then launched the ball towards the midfield. It sailed over the forwards and the midfielders before landing in front of Mira. The defender kicked it back to Grey who moved it over to Lisanna. She saw Stephen moving up the defensive line and stop. She saw his plan and kicked it towards him. He charged the ball and sent the ball soaring at the keeper from nearly 40 yards out. Stephen glanced at the side ref who saw him. He gave the man a hard look before moving up to take the corner.

Erza lined up to take the corner from the right side of the goalkeeper. Glancing into the box from her position, she could already see the pushing and shoving in the box. The ref already had to separate Sting and Stephen. Erza waited before the ref gave the signal. Setting up she wound up and fired. The shot went to the far sight. There were three bodies there, including a certain black haired defender. He took a couple of steps back and then headbutted the ball. It went right past the keeper into the net before he could react.

Booth

Chamati: Scarlet lines up the shot. Some pushing and shoving in the box. Ref is warning them away. Whistles for her to take the kick. She winds up and fires. Over the crowd and ITS OFF REDFOX AND PAST THE KEEPER! What a goal for the forward turned defender! His first goal for City since he arrived in July.

Jason: Scarlet was trying to go for the center and lobbed it too high. But Redfox at nearly 6 feet tall was ready with his head and just like that its 1-0 City.

Gajeel was laughing as Natsu came up and pounded him on the shoulder. "Great deflection metal head!"

"Gihi, you know it Salamander. Don't get cocky these guys are still tough!"

Magnolia United 0-1 Magnolia City

Redfox (MAGC) 13'

Rouge restarted the game and kicked it towards Minerva. She took it up the eel before dumping it to one of the other midfielders. Looking towards the forwards who nodded, she waited until City got the ball back. Then she ran at Lisanna who was coming up the field and struck forward. She got her leg on the ball but the way she did so forced the white haired girl to trip over her. City was calling for a foul but the ref merely signaled for a throw in while Lisanna was dealing with the pain.

Stephen jogged over and helped the girl up. "You alright."

"Yeah. Stupid bitch went after me," She grumbled.

Stephen looked at where Minerva was watching Sting and Natsu argue. "This is going to get ugly. Stay on your guard. I don't think the refs are gonna be friendly to us."

Lisanna sighed. "I think you're right."

Mira took the thrown in and threw it to Stephen. He took it slow, but Rufus charged at him. He was able to dump off to Natsu before the blond got to him. He pulled up but still ran into him. Stephen growled.

"Hey. Back off!" He yelled at the midfielder.

Rufus held up his hands. "So sorry, I'll be sure to finish the job next time."

The American didn't want to rise to his bait, but this team was beginning to bring the worst out of him.

Two minutes later, the chippiness finally claimed its first victim. Sting came up the right side. Mira charged at him and launched a kick at the ball. He got it, but the Sting dove to the ground. The ref saw this and ran up to the elder Strauss sibling. Reaching into his pocket to pull out the yellow card.

Booth

Chamati: Eucliffe gets the balls, Strauss comes in. Goes for the balls and Eucliffe is down and the ref is reaching into his pocket and is giving the defender a yellow. The first card for City and a free kick for United.

Jason: Now its getting ridiculous. They have called fouls on the smallest things for City and this attack for Mirajane was a clean tackle. Three other hard tackles have not been called on United. Someone in that control room better be calling the ref.

Gildarts was seeing the same thing and pointed to the ref, motioning him to come to him. "Listen buddy, you better start calling this game a bit more fairly, my team is getting killed out there.

"I'm sorry sir, but I haven't seen them doing anything." The ref said looking away.

"That's malarkey. What's your name?"

"Leon sir."

"Leon, you know who I am right?" At the ref's nod he continued. "That means you know I'm the head coach of the national team. Which means I have the ears of the Federation." The ref sweated. He could fill in the blanks. If the coach had reason to suspect a dirty game, he could protest the results. He also knew the VAR could overrule him if they didn't make the right calls soon.

"I-I'll see what see what I can do," Leon stuttered as he turned around to let Sting take his kick. The wall was Gajeel, Natsu and Alzack, close to the box. Sting saw the wall and smirked. Holding up his hand to signal his kick, he wound up and fired. Instead of curving to the left of Gajeel, it went over Natsu who was a second too late to get a head on the ball. Elfman, who was lined up closer to striker's left, dove and missed as the ball went through his hands. The crowd was reenergized with the goal as Sting laughed in celebration, making sure to take a dig at the City defenders.

Booth

Chamati: Coach Clive is having words with the ref.

Jason: I would be rightfully concerned, some of these calls have been pretty questionable.

Chamati: Eucliffe takes the kick, imposing wall in front. (Ref whistles) Here comes the free kick. He kicks, lifts it past the wall AND THROUGHT THE KEEPER"S HAND! What an amazing shot, through the Golden glove leader's hands!

Jason: This is why Sting is extremely dangerous, he can fit the shot through the smallest of openings as its now 1-1.

Magnolia United 1-1 Magnolia City

Redfox (MAGC) 13'

Eucliffe (MAGU) 27'

With the team invigorated, United put more pressure on the midfield forcing Stephen to pull back into the midfield to provide toughness. This unfortunately isolated Natsu allowing the opposing midfield to limit his options. But as the half wore on, more fouls were being called. It seemed after the Mira card, the ref was content in letting the game play out, but was letting more violent calls off with more warnings, but surprisingly no cards until the 40th minute. Stephen crossed midfield looking for a way to turn the momentum around. Rufus came charging in trying to get the ball. He slit and collided with the American making him tumble over, grabbing his ankle.

Almost immediately play stopped and the ref ran over to not only show Rufus his card, but to try and break up the teams from fighting each other as the United forwards and Natsu were at each other's throats. Meanwhile Lucy and Lisanna were more worried about Stephen who was rubbing his ankle.

"You alright?" The blonde asked worriedly.

"Yeah. Takes a lot more than that to keep me down," He replied stretching out his leg before hopping up onto his feet with Lisanna's help. "This is getting ugly." He muttered looking at the teams ready to punch each other's lights out.

"Your right. Can you take the kick?" The blue eyed girl asked.

"Not really, Lucy just get it to Erza if you can."

The midfielder nodded and after a few seconds of getting the teams under control, Erza lined for the free kick. Not wanting to risk the shot, she passed it to Lucy who began her move up field. Minerva though was keeping an eye on the passing and saw an opportunity to get another goal. As Lucy passed it to Grey Minerva charged and intercepted the pass. Both Sting and Rogue followed her. Erza tried to turn around but she tripped, leaving the back line to try and contain the much faster group.

Booth

Chamati: Scarlet passes it to Heartfillia. She tries to get it too Fullbuster. Orlando! Intercepts it! Going the other way! She's got Eucliffe and Cheney with her. Strauss tries to stop her! She passes it to Cheney! Onside! Shoots! SCORES! (Crowd goes wild) United is up 2-1

Jason: a lapse in judgment in the normally reliable midfield for City. Orlando see the opportunity and steals it. Scarlet tripped and fell trying to turn around. It was a three on four towards the goal. Mira tried her best, but Orlando was one step ahead of her. And the finish….absolutely beautiful.

Magnolia United 2-1 Magnolia City

Redfox (MAGC) 13'

Eucliffe (MAGU) 27'

Cheney (MAGU) 44'

After the goal, City took the kick off and held on until stoppage time expired and the ref signaled half time.

In the City locker room, the mood was less jubilant than when they started the game. Erza kicked the locker in frustration. "Damn it, I should've been able to stop that goal!"

"You didn't know she would do that Erza!" Natsu tried to placate her. "The whole game they've been on our asses and she does something like that."

"Natsu's right about one thing," Stephen spoke up. "The team is being more aggressive than usual and the refs are not helping. I saw that tackle by Mira, it was not even close. Either Sting's a great actor. Or the refs are not calling it cleanly."

Erza seemed to calm down. Stephen cracked his knuckles. "If they want someone to focus on, get them to focus on me!"

"Why? Your just gonna get hurt more!" Lisanna asked worried.

"We're down 2-1, I've been down worse and gotten wins. I've seen bigger leads falter!" Stephen looked at the locker room. "These are our rivals right? We don't roll over like beaten dogs. Who the heck are we?"

"Magnolia City!" The room replied.

"You guys are too quiet. WHO. ARE! WE!"

"MAGNOLIA CITY!" Everyone cheered.

Stephen smiled and glanced over his shoulder to see Gildarts looking at the room with pride. The coach walked up to him and put his right arm on his shoulder. "You know, you should really be the captain, if you rile up our team like that"

The American chuckled. "Nah, Erza can have it until she says I can have it." He then turned serious. "Those tigers won't know what hit them."

Gildarts nodded. "I may have to sub people if they get cards. I'm surprised that the only card against us has been Mira's."

"True," Erza chimed in. "But they currently have the lead. They have no reason to hold back. They will be looking for blood!"

"Then let's give them that blood. The ref is more than content to let this turn into a rugby match!"

"We're not stooping to their level," Erza barked.

"Erza, I love you as a captain as a teammate. But we're getting killed out there. If we don't show some aggression, Mira's gonna get beat again!" Stephen growled

"If we show aggression, we're no better than those cats!"

"I'm not saying deliberately trying to attack them. What I mean is eye for an eye. If one of us goes down so do they.

Before Erza could respond, Gildarts place a hand on her shoulder. "He's right, we might need to be more assertive in the game. Have Grey and Lucy swap spots and have Lisanna and Mira play behind you.

Erza nodded and went to talk to the players. Turning to Stephen, he lowered his voice. "You suspect something?"

"Would not put it past United to pay off the main ref. Some of those calls were pretty deliberate," the forward responded.

"Right. Let's keep it on the down low. You good to go?"

"I got plenty left in the tank. All those hits are nothing," Stephen boasted.

Gildarts sighed. "Alright, but don't be upset if I pull ya."

The American nodded and went back to talk with his teammates. A few minutes later, the refs signaled them to come back out onto the field. Entering to a chorus of boos, they were unfazed by the riled up crowd. As United came out to cheers, Stephen ignored them and turned to Natsu.

"Remember to temper yourself. They have a worse anger issue than you. Try to get them to make a mistake."

Sting stood on the outside of the circle. "Let's go stupid fairies! Ain't getting any younger here."

Stephen ignored him getting the blond striker to get angry. "Hey! Let's go!" Sting tried to enter the circle but Leon forced him back and warned him that any more stunts like that would get him a card. This placated the young man temporarily. He knew one more card would result in a suspension. The young ref turned to Stephen, then looked at his watch before blowing his whistle

Booth

Chamati: United and City take the field for the second half. City looks recovered from their pre half time stumble.

Jason: One thing that has become painfully obvious across every competition is that Magnolia City is never out of the game until the final whistle. Barcelona learned that the hard way. If United does not keep themselves together, they could let City back in this game.

Chamati: No changes at the half. Eucliffe has been warned off the circle. The referee looks like he's had enough of his shenanigans. He looks at his watch. (Whistle) The second half is under way as Decatur passes it back to Dragneel.

Jason: No changes but the tempers haven't cooled at all. Dragneel and Eucliffe are still mouthing off as Decatur passes it up field, intercepted by Lore. He passes it up to Orlando she's being covered by both the younger Strauss and Fullbuster

The next few minutes, the game seemed to slow in speed but not in intensity. Every ball was contested, many of the players were in each other's face.

55th Minute

Chamati: Heartfillia takes the shot and is deflected wide for corner. This could be a big turning point in the match. Decatur decides to take it this time. From the keeper's right.

Jason: More shoving in the box as the ref tries to separate them again.

Chamati: Here's the kick. He sends it into the box. A lot of traffic, the ball goes towards the net! Orga makes a fantastic save!

While Orga seemed to have made the save, Stephen coming in from the side, had a different opinion. Coming from the side the save was made on, he saw the ball had passed the bar. He stormed over to the ref. "HEY!" The ref looked up. "That ball went in! It went past the bar!

Before Leon could say anything, he felt his pocket buzx. Holding his hand up to his ear, he blew the whistle and traced a square in the air before leaving the field.

Chamati: The ref is stopping play. It looks like...we're getting a review on that save!

Jason: (Replay begins) Here's the kick. Its gonna go into the box. It bounces off a few people. The last person to touch it…was not a City player!

Chamati: Looks like Agria's left leg. Let's see it again. (Replay starts again.) Ball is loose and does Orga stop it. Freeze it! (Picture greys out showing the ball and the line. The ball was over the line before Orga touched it.)

Jason: Its an own goal! The ball bounced off Agria and it crossed the line.

On the field, Stephen was still riled up as he approached the group. Erza noticed this. "What's going on?"

"I saw that ball go in, the ref didn't see it!" Stephen growled.

"Then why wasn't it called?" Lucy asked.

"The action was too fast. Heck the only reason I saw it was because I didn't go my normal route to the box. I traveled up the line," The American pointed out.

"Then who will get the goal credit? I couldn't see a thing," Erza wondered.

"I may have seen something," Lisanna raised her hand. "I was battling Agria for the ball I moved up and she might have tried to get the ball. I think it might have deflected off her leg.

Before Steven could process this the ref came back from under the hood. Once he had the player's attention, he drew another square and pointed to towards the center, indicating a goal. Stephen let out a whoop with the rest of the team cheering for the goal ignoring the increasing discontent in the stands.

Sting's eyes twitched as the ref signaled the goal. His anger which he had kept under lid for the last ten minutes, exploded. "WHAT THE HELL! How did that go in!?" He stomped over to the ref. "You little bitch! How was that a goal!? He had his hands on it!"

Leon held up hands. "Sir, calm down! I will let the language slide! The call is final!"

"Fuck no! Take that goal and shove it!"

Patience at an end, Leon reached into his pocket and held up a card. Before Sting could respond, Leon glared at him. "Be thankful this wasn't a red!"

Booth

Chamati: And the ref comes back and signals for a goal! An own goal by United and the crowd is showing its displeasure.

Jason: It was a goal plain and simple. Even if it went off the midfielder's legs. (Booing intensifies) And Eucliffe just got shown a yellow, he's suspended from the next game. He clearly said something that the ref didn't like.

Chamati: United needs to keep their heads together. Its 2-2 in the 57th minute. City seems more composed than usual.

Magnolia United 2-2 Magnolia City

Redfox (MAGC) 13'

Eucliffe (MAGU) 27'

Cheney (MAGU) 44'

Agria (MAGC) (OG) 55'

As the game resumed, Minerva scowled as she glared at Stephen. She knew the replay was wrong but the refs wouldn't have caught it if that stupid American hadn't bitched to the ref. She bided her time for the plan she came up with. She needed a way to not only catch him off guard but away from the refs eyes or in a way that would get him carded. The opportunity came in the 77th minute. The ball was loose in the midfield heading towards the far side. Stephen came in to challenge and Minerva charged at him. Stephen saw her charge and decided to slide to get to the ball. The midfielder left over him began her fall to frame the American. Unfortunately her knees caught the side of his head. He was almost immediately on the turf in pain. While Minerva tried to sell the injury, no one could doubt Stephen was in serious pain.

The ref stopped play as the crowd cheered for the take down. Leon stormed over to check on Stephen as the City trainers came out to him. He saw Minerva trying to roll around and sell the injury, but he was having none of that.

"Lady get up! Your not hurt!"

Minerva slowly took her hands off her knee and stood up. "You saw that charge right!?"

"Yes. I also saw a knee into his head and he didn't touch you!" He reached into pocket and pulled out the red card. "Your Expelled! Leave the field immediately!"

Minerva was livid. "You can't do this to me! I didn't do anything!" Before she could continue to blow up at the ref, Rogue pulled her back and pushed her to the side telling her to leave. She left to the loudest boos of the entire game.

Booth

Chamati: Mira passes it upfield, Deactur goes for it. Orlando, HARD CHARGE AND BOTH GO DOWN!

Jason: Decatur is holding his head. That was a nasty hit as the medical team comes out! The ref is walking over to Orlando, his hands in the pocket. Orlando stands, the ref knows she's selling this. And it's a red. That is completely the right call. The captain is outright furious as Cheney has to hold her back. And this is disgraceful, garbage is being thrown on the field.

Chamati: United has completely lost their composure. That's one player ejected and she's probably gonna be out for multiple games. You have Eucliffe who's guaranteed to miss the next game and its tied due to an own goal.

Jason: City's probably less concerned about that and more worried about Decatur as he stands up. My gosh that hit drew blood.

On the field Levy and Bisca were helping Stephen sit up. Bisca shined a flashlight in his eyes. "You don't have a concussion, but the hit opened you up.

Stephen reflexively held his hand up to put pressure on the wound. "Right, so help me up and lets get this show on the road."

Levy gasped. "Are you nuts? You could have a possible concussion and you're bleeding!"

Stephen growled. "I'm not leaving my team out there! There's ten minutes left! I'm staying!"

Bisca sighed. "If your so insistent on staying, we just need a way to cover up the blood," She said helping him up.

Stephen looked at Levy, more specifically her white arm band. "How big is that band?"

Levy looked at her arm. "Its pretty big on me." She pulled it off and held it up to him. The American took it and wrapped it around his head. "I feel like Ralph Machio in Karate Kid."

Bisca pulled out a water bottle and squirted it in his mouth. "Alright black belt get out there and win this!

On the City bench, Gildarts watched Stephen jog back on the field. He glanced at Romeo who was warming up. "Conbolt, go sit down."

Romeo nodded and went back to the bench. Gildarts sighed. "This boy is definitely inheriting the stubbornness of this team.

Booth

Chamati: This is unbelievable, Decatur is staying in the game after that scary hit!

Jason: Ten minutes plus extra time. This kids tough. He's gonna have to be to survive the rest of the game. But with a man advantage, the job might be easier.

As the clock wound down, United tried desperately to attack but with ten men on the field, they were easily repelled and even allowed another shot on the goal. With three minutes plus extra time, they were content to hold back and try to settle for a tie.

Stephen looked up at the clock and saw it was approaching full time. The announcer said four minutes would be added. He sighed as Elfman brought the ball up for his kick. Stephen looked down field and it suddenly greyed out in his vision. He blinked and saw the ten United players in red and his friends in green. Looking around, he spotted the ball and it looked like a line was traveling from Elfman to Erza then him. Blinking his eyes, he turned his head towards Erza then towards Lisanna and Natsu. The moment their eyes met, it was like they were in his head and nodded.

Elfman nodded and instead of launching it down field, he kicked it to Erza. The red head took the ball and passed it to the American. Two of the United midfielders, including Rufus came to block him. In his head he saw two lines, one where the ball was going and saw that Lisanna was glowing. He kicked it with the outside of his foot into seemingly open space. Meanwhile, he followed the bigger arrow around Rufus' right. The moment he passed the ball l, he spun around confusing the two midfielders.

Booth

Chamati: We have entered extra time, 4 minutes on the clock. United trying desperately to hang on to the tie. Elfman takes the ball, passes it to Scarlet. She passes it to Decatur. He takes it up the side. Two midfielders meet him. He bats it to the side and does a twirl around them. How's this man doing this?

Jason: Forget that, look at all of these passes, there is no looking for all of these passes.

Chamati: Strauss gets sends to Fullbuster he goes towards the die doubles back and fires it downfield to Decatur again! What's he gonna do now? He splits Agria's legs to Dragneel! Dragneel! This whole back line is in disarray

Stephen kept moving making sure that the back line stayed in front of him. All the while, he kept seeing the lines, indicating where the ball went. He saw the last line was just in front of the box and behind the last back. He charged at the spot, avoiding the tackle that Sting was trying to put on him.

Booth

Chamati: Dragneel takes it all the way to the box! He passes it back, it goes past two of the defenders! Decatur! Charging in! One TIMES AND IN! (Crowd goes almost dead silent save for the City area as Stephen runs towards it) Unbelievable! In his first Derby, Stephen Decatur scores the winning goal.

Jason: (Replays begin) What is this kid made of? He gets taken down by a charging midfielder. Gets up, leads a charge downfield and still has the energy to get the goal. I…this is so cool to watch him play. It's so much fun to watch these kids play. And now the crowd looks like they want to riot as the police come in to protect the City fans!

Chamati: United takes it and the ref whistles the game over. City wins 3-2 and they stay on top of the table. 8 wins in nine games. This team is on top of the world.

Magnolia United 2-3 Magnolia City

Redfox (MAGC) 13'

Eucliffe (MAGU) 27'

Cheney (MAGU) 44'

Agria (MAGC) (OG) 55'

Decatur (MAGU) 90' +2

With a win over their rivals, Magnolia City has claimed sole possession of first. How far can their momentum carry them? Find out next time

 **End of Chapter**

 **UO: Quicker turn around this time, I was working on this as the last Nakama chapter was being edited**

 **Teams:**

 **Magnolia United: Founded in 1910 as a breakaway team from AFC Alverez. A team that's had more success than their City counterparts with 20 league wins, 8 Mavis Cups and 10 Fiore Cups.**

 **Emblem: Sabretooth logo on a black shield**

 **Team Colors: Home: Solid Red Away: White with gold stripes Third: Blue shirt with white stripes, red pants.**

 **Preview: As the hype from the Magnolia Derby dies down, the next game against Babylon approaches. But they will have to do it without Stephen as his injury keeps him on the bench. Can Erza overcome her past with the team captain to lead the team to victory?**

 **Next time: Dark Memories. Magnolia City Vs. Babylon**


	10. Dark Memories: Babylon vs Magnolia City

**OSPREY…SWOOOSH**

 **UO: Okay, this season is moving right along so let's keep on going on this**

 **Natsu: Can we take a break please?**

 **Stephen: I'm raring the go! (Talking to a lamppost)**

 **UO: Yeah, good thing you're sitting this game Stephen**

 **Stephen: The doctors said I had a mild concussion. So yeah good call.**

 **Erza: We will figure out a way without you.**

 **Stephen: What was that? Natsu stole your cheesecake?"**

 **Natsu: NO I DIDN'T! *Sword nearly castrates him and Erza gives chase.**

 **UO: You are playing this concussion thing up way too much**

 **Stephen: Ain't I stinker?**

 **UO: (Studio gets destroyed in the background) Right. Disclaimer**

 **Lucy: UnitedOsprey1991 doesn't own anything related to soccer or Fairy Tail. He only owns the plot and Stephen.**

 **Natsu: *Something breaks***

 **Stephen: That didn't sound healthy.**

 **Lucy: Yep.**

 **UO: Natsu you alright?**

Normal text: Speaking or normal talking

Person's name followed by a colon: In-game announcer

 _"Quotes and Italics: Conversation over phones, T.V and computers._

' _Apostrophe and Italics': Thoughts_

 **Bold: Yelling**

Underline: Location and Time in game

Chapter 10: Dark Memories: Babylon vs Magnolia City

City Locker Room, 10 minutes after the game

When we last left the First Saint League, the Magnolia Derby was played. It lived up to its reputation as multiple fouls on both sides were called with a disportionate number happening to Magnolia City. Despite the fouls only three cards were issued, two of them going to United. Like they had been all season, they found a way to battle back thanks to mistakes by United and a heroic effort by Stephen Decatur, City walked out of the Den with a 2-3 victory.

In the locker room the mood was celebratory. Having defeated their rivals after hearing the trash talking that came from their opponents, they felt reason to celebrate. One person not taking part in the celebration was Stephen, who was looking on with a smile.

"Heh, after a game like that, they should celebrate. Ow!" He hissed as Bisca placed some peroxide on the wound.

"You're lucky you don't have a concussion after that hit!" Bisca growled. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking of rallying everyone. If I got taken out, everyone would be more worried about me." The American replied.

"Well you did rally them, even getting the game winning goal," Gildarts chimed in as he walked into the trainer's room. "I was half tempted to pull your ass!"

"Yeah well glad you didn't," Stephen shot back.

The older man rolled his eyes. "Yeah well we're keeping you benched next game and possibly the cup game. Just to be safe."

Stephen sighed good-naturedly. "Figures. Worth it though!"

Gildarts laughed. "Just get that wound checked out. Don't push yourself for a couple of days."

"Right, stream and show off my battle scar. Got it!"

The coach rolled his eyes but smiled as his star player laughed off his injury. It could have been worse and considering the schedule ahead, he could afford to have Stephen sit a game. He walked back into the locker room to see his team in high spirits. Whistling to get their attention, he cleared his throat. "That game was probably one of the most brutal games I've witnessed. But you guys kept your morals and as a result we're ruling the top of the table!" This got some cheers from the locker room. "But don't let this get to your heads! Now that we're number 1, they're gonna be gunning for us! We need to keep this mentality as much as possible this season! WHO ARE WE?"

"MAGNOLIA CITY!"

Gildarts smiled as they finished celebrating and cleaning up. Give themselves another hour for the crowd to die down and they'd be back in friendly territory.

A few moments later Stephen walked into the shower. He personally didn't like communal showers, so he always made sure to be one of the last ones to take a shower. He sighed as the warm water cascaded around his muscled form. All of the bruising and tackling they did took a toll on his body. He was definitely taking a longer one at the dorm. Turning off the water and wrapping a towel around himself, he quickly headed for his clothes. A squeak caught his attention. He turned to see Lisanna hiding behind the wall to the shower.

"Lis? What're you doing here? I thought you already showered."

The white haired girl peaked her head out. "Sorry, I had to get something done and I thought I was the last girl to shower."

The striker turned back around. "You can shower if you want, I can get dressed without looking around."

Grateful for the modesty, Lisanna darted into the shower and moaned in delight as the warm water hit her body Stephen blushed at her groans. "Didn't realize the showers were that good."

"Nah, I just like the feeling of water across my body. Don't tell anyone this, but I like to cover myself in soap when Mira's not around, just so I have an excuse to run the shower head over my body. It just feels so wonderful to clean it off like that, I do it a couple of times."

Stephen smiled at the image, then something came to his mind. "I remember something online, where did I see it?" He racked his mind for the answer. "Oh yeah, Rooster Teeth did something where they were looking for a guy who gave these great head massages and because of certain triggers it made them feel really good." He snapped his fingers. ASMR! That's it! It's an audio and visual stimuli that creates a pleasurably feeling from head to toe.

Lisanna was intrigued. "ASMR huh? Well then, I guess one of my triggers is the feeling of warm water on my soapy skin." She stretched out letting the water roll off her body. "Or it could be the air on my body afterwards. I like to walk around in my towel afterwards before getting dressed."

Stephen had to cover his nose at his girlfriend's remarks. "Lis, I nearly had a concussion! I don't need to lose blood because I got about 100 fantasies about you going through my head! What a way to go though!" He said distantly.

The midfielder giggled. "Sorry." Her tone indicated it wasn't entirely honest. A couple of minutes later, she finished and got herself dressed. She tapped his shoulder. "All done. Come on, the crowds should be more pacified now. Master might let us get back home."

The striker smiled and snuck a kiss on her before they rejoined the group getting ready to board their bus to go back across town. Approaching them, they noticed an increased police presence around them. "What's going on?" Stephen asked.

Erza who had heard him, turned around and explained. "There's still some hooligans out and about, this is mostly a precaution until we get to our side of the city."

Both of them nodded as they hopped onto the bus. Moments later, the bus slowly pulled out of the stadium. It was clear that the fans at the stadium were still furious about the lost as they sent garbage at the bus windows. It was a near riot as they slowly made their way out of the United section of the city. Those riots turned into cheers as they crossed the street borders into their section of the city. Many supporters lined up as the buses stopped, letting out their star players. There was the usual amount of cheers for the star players especially Mira and Natsu. Those cheers turned to roars as Stephen stepped out and waved to the crowd. He signed several autographs and even took some pictures with the fans as they congratulated him. Though the lights were giving him a headache, he bared it until they were allowed to go back to their dorms, exhausted but happy.

United Locker Room

Sting was tearing up the locker room in anger, a sentiment shared by most of the locker room. "How did those stupid Fairies beat us!? We had the goals, we had them on the ropes and we stinking blew it!"

Rouge tried to calm his roommate. "Sting, relax! That attitude is precisely why you got your card and are out for the next game. Giving your cussed him, I wouldn't be surprised if its longer!

"I don't care about that! How the hell did that American ass recover from your blow?" He pointed to Minerva. "And more importantly I thought you had the fucking refs!"

Minerva was about to retort until their manager stomped his way in. He was tall, with an imposing eight back that was bursting through the suit he war. Despite his graying hair, he looked like a general from the military. This was Jiemana, former striker for several teams and the national team, well known

"I only have one thing to say. That game was one of the worst games I have ever seen. We had those Fairies by the throat and you let the game slip away!" He glared at the two in particular. "Agria! What were you thinking with that own goal?

The white haired girl flinched. "I-it was confusion, s-sir. I-if it wasn't for the r-replay, I…"

"Save it. Just don't make those mistakes!" He turned his striker and his midfielder. "Your behavior was pathetic! That tackle should have knocked that striker out of the game! Now we're gonna be without both of you for at least two games. There is no way Sting won't get more games for his language and Minerva's hit was blatant! Just when we have some of the hardest games on our schedule! Those fines are coming out of your pay! Get out of my sight! All of you!"

He stormed out of the locker room, leaving the team to stew. In the hallway, Jiemana growled. "Stupid refs, if it weren't for the cameras, we would have gotten a point. No use trying to appeal. We need to figure how to get through this week and destroy those Fairies!" He stomped off in a huff to review the day's game.

Two days later, November 3rd, 11:00 AM

Stephen sighed as he loaded into Counter-strike. "Soviet? You there?

" _Stream's good, waiting for Cyanide. How's the head?"_

"Better than it was on Sunday. They want me to sit the next couple of games, case I got a concussion."

" _Are you good to stream?"_

"Yeah got a couple of ibuprofen should be good for a while."

" _Gaaay!"_ Cynaide's voice kicked in.

" _My music is not Gay, you idiotic bastard!"_

"That is of course if Cyanide decides to be a dick," Stephen groaned. "Alright let's get into a game." He watched as his stream started up and his chat wished him well. Getting into the game, the game surprisingly went well for a first game and they ended up winning 16-5.

" _Wow that is normally not how our first games go. Oz those last few rounds were amazing!"_ Soviet praised.

" _Yeah, you managed to rank up as well."_

"Yeah, must be pumped today," Stephen waved off. Looking at his chat, they were asking if he was okay. "Guys chill, I'm fine, the medics said not to play this week and I'm not. I'm just as fine playing CS:GO with this knuckleheads." He saw a question about the two player's suspension. "I haven't seen them, hang on.' A quick search for them and he whistled. "Damn. Minerva's getting seven games. Three for the Red card, four for the hit. Sting's getting four. One for the yellow cards, two for language and one for touching the ref. That's like a half a season suspension for football. As for the team, their next home game will be behind closed doors.

" _That's pretty big. Playing behind closed doors means no fans and no money. Anyway, is this T sided map?"_

" _Whatever side we're not on map!"_ Edburg commented. As they ran out, they realized they forgot something.

" _Where's the bomb?"_ Ed asked.

Stephen groaned. "Ed you go get it." He heard Cyanide eating. "Big surprise Cyanide is eating. Soviet try to cover me."

" _Right. Damn it out of ammo one sec-OW!"_

Stephen sighed. "Why am I carrying you guys today? " He was one vs 3, well one vs 2 as he took out Soviet's killer. Edburg was coming to support him but the two attackers were coming at him. Almost reflexively he fired and hit one guy in the head and fired multiple shots into the other.

" _Okay, seriously, Oz did that head injury give you some sort of super powers or something?"_

"Don't know but I feel great!"

And that was what the next two games were like. Some games Stephen pulled his weight, other games he called out certain things that almost seemed like he was cheating. He wasn't using a mod as far as he could tell but he somehow knew where to move everyone.

" _Maybe that head injury hurt his soccer skills and made him better at CS:GO?"_ Cyanide asked rhetorically.

" _No, I don't think that's it! Oz? Are you sure you're alright?"_ Soviet asked with genuine concern.

"Yeah, just a bit of a headache. Nothing too major."

" _If you need a break, you can step out."_

"No, someone has to carry your ass!"

" _I carry my weight!"_ A long silence followed. _"What? I can?"_

Stephen cleared his throat. _"_ To be fair, Soviet has been doing better than average. Same can't be said about you CYANIDE!"

" _He's still salty about Soviet being higher than him."_

"No I think it's because he decided that executing people who are not advancing is an okay tactic!" This is not WW2 Soviet Russia! No offense Womble."

" _None taken. It's just a name!"_

Before Stephen could continue, he heard a knock on his door. "Be right back guys." He sat up to go answer it. Opening the door, he saw his girlfriend in the door.

"Hey. Practice over?"

"Yeah, just got changed. Wanted to watch you stream," Lisanna said.

"Yeah come on in, we're about an hour and half in, we're gonna do one more match before switching games," He told her. Entering his room and leaning up to the microphone. "Hey guys, my teammate is here to watch the next game.

" _Which one is it? The model? The hot blonde? Or the red head. Oh man, they would be great collections to my harem,"_ Cyanide chimed in.

"Cyanide if I knew your address in Singapore I would tell all three what you just said and watch the fireworks. Anyway, this is Lisanna. She's the younger sister of said model Mirajane. Lis say hi."

"Hello there. Steve's told me all about you guys."

" _Aww, she's adorable,"_ Soviet gushed.

" _Screw the other three Oz if you don't bang her, I'm gonna find her and OWWW! Motherfucker!"_ Cyanide was attempting to hit on Lisanna before Soviet shot him in the head.

"You beat me to it Soviet. I get the next one!"

" _What is this pick on Cyanide day?"_

"No that's next Tuesday," Stephen responded setting up the mic so Lisanna could speak. "So you guys mind is she joins our conversation?"

" _Knock yourself out Miss Strauss, its been a Sausage fest here."_

"Why thank you. You seem to be nice." This got laughs from everyone.

" _I'm British, we're supposed to be gentlemen._ " A small sound caught the man's attention and he started laughing. _"Lulu go lay down."_

"Is that a dog? I love animals!" Lisanna gushed.

" _Yes she's an adorable pug…OW! Lulu stop distracting me!"_ Soviet complained.

Stephen facepalmed. "Alright, I got to carry everyone AGAIN!

" _Again? Let's look at the scoreboard. How the heck is Oz doing better than me?"_ Edburg complained.

"Must be all of the momentum from Sunday. We were pumped!" Stephen laughed. Another few rounds and this time luck was not on their side as the enemy team was able to pick off Stephen and Soviet constantly. It still was close, at 16-10.

"Alright, I'm gonna take a break guys. I'll be back around 4 or 5ish. Just a heads up, I got a preliminary permission to do a live stream of next week's game from Akane when we play Babylon. They want me to be in the booth as they're broadcasting. Hopefully I can at least provide some translations. Um…next stream might be later today or tomorrow, might be taking a day for rest." Stephen turned the stream off and sighed. "I wasn't entirely truthful about the head injury."

"Hm?" Lisanna asked. "Did you get a concussion?"

"No. It's just…did you feel anything weird on that last goal against United?"

The white haired girl hummed. "Well…I remember you grabbed the ball and suddenly I felt like I was in a video game. Everyone was moving to areas where they shouldn't have. And yet, the ball got through every time. Like something knew the next moves everyone on the field was going to make."

Stephen closed his eyes. "Something in my head must have been rewired. Cause I could see these lines. When I looked at each of you, I could see where you all were supposed to go. And then when I moved I could see the line as well. You saw me split the strikers up, I could see the gap between them as they moved towards me." He leaned back on his chair. "It's like I was in everyone's heads. Don't know if it was because of the hit or I woke something up."

Lisanna hummed, moving up his bed and patting between her legs. Taking the invite he laid down on her lap. The smaller girl began to rub his hair and head. "I don't know what happened Sunday. But what I do know, is that you're okay and none of us were seriously hurt."

Stephen smiled and briefly sat up to go onto YouTube. Before Lisanna could ask, a calming song began to play. "What is this?"

(Play 'Melancholy by Pulse 8)

"It's Chillstep. A friend of mine happened to recommend it to me. I like to listen to it when I'm editing." He crawled back into her lap. "Or when I do some non-action stuff. The viewers actually like it."

Lisanna smiled and leaned back onto the pillow. "It's like I'm floating. So peaceful." Before long both of had drifted off into a peaceful bliss.

In another room at the dorm, one person was not enjoying her peace. Erza had come up after grabbing a quick bite in the cafeteria before going up and taking a shower. She sighed as the water cascaded down her curvy form. She sighed, this was the first time she would be playing against her former academy team. AFC Babylon, one of three promoted teams along with Hargeon and Polaris FC, used to be a good team under the name Babylon Towers. One of the reasons for their success was their academy teams. They produced many promising domestic and international stars, none more promising than her class of players. She remembered playing with Millianna the midfielder from Mermaid Scale and she had fond memories of the rest of team before Babylon's sordid past came to light.

It turns out the previous owner had been running a Ponzi scheme on the side and the team went bankrupt before she could debut for the main team. When other crimes such as abuse and assault were exposed, the Federation of Fiore Football liquidated the club. The new team AFC Babylon was put into the tier 3 of Fiore's Western Region, the 8th tier overall on the pyramid. As a result, many players such as Erza and Millianna found new teams. Erza was turned away from three teams because of her gender before Magnolia City scooped her up. She worked hard to get to the spot they were in but at age 26, she had earned the respect of almost every team of the league.

Erza smiled sadly. She was friends with a lot of people in her academy, one person in particular stood out. Jellal Fernandez, the current captain of Babylon, was at one point her closest friend. She even received her last name Scarlet after her mother seemingly abandoned her. When the team separated, he begged her to stay but after what had happened during their stay, she didn't want to deal with the club anymore and was set adrift. Now she was returning to where her career began.

She sighed and shut the water off before drying herself with a towel. A knock on the door caught her attention. Slipping on a short pink robe, she walked up and opened it. On the other side was Lucy who looked had to look away to hide her blush.

"Lucy? What's going on?" Erza asked softly.

"Oh…Uh, I saw you acting not yourself and wanted to check on you." Lucy stammered.

The scarlet-haired captain smiled at her reaction. She knew she and Mira gained a lot of admirers both male and female. Apparently Lucy was one of them. "I see, come in. I just got of the shower."

"Oh, uh are you sure?" The blonde asked.

"It's just us girls. No need to be shy," Erza assured her. The blonde stepped into the door. Compared to Stephen's and Natsu's room, this room was immaculate as expected of the captain. Though it was a bit more Spartan than she liked.

Sitting on the couch next to the half-dressed red head. She noticed the years of training had given the woman long toned and powerful legs. This also translated to her arms and the full breasts peeking out the robe. She shook her head and focused on the task at hand. "So something on your mind?"

"Yes, its just…I have a history with Babylon, specifically the former academy."

Lucy recognized the name. "Right, they were one of the better First Saint League teams before the owner's Ponzi scheme and reports of academy abuse came to light. The club was liquidated and then reborn AFC Babylon. I didn't realize you played there."

Erza looked at Lucy. "Yes. When the team was falling apart, we were given the option to leave. Me and Millianna from Mermaid Scale took the option and we bounced around teams until we got to our current ones. Simon, Kagura's brother was a part of the team until he was killed. Something that I'm still suspicious of."

Lucy didn't want to voice her thought or spill that Stephen was investigating some of the shadier dealings of the league. "We're you close with any of them?"

Erza chuckled. "Yes. Millianna was a close friend. Several of my former teammates still play for them. Including…Jellal Fernandez."

Lucy widened her eyes. "You mean the striker that's won the lower tier golden boots three years in a row? And currently has three goals this year?"

"Yes. After I was abandoned by my mother, he gave me my name, Scarlet. Because of my hair." She lifted up her mid back length hair. "When I left, he didn't want me to leave. The memories were too much and I couldn't stay." She looked down. "When I see him play, I still see a completely different person. There are some aggressive teams, but this team is something else." She looked up at the ceiling. "I fear they might target me the most in the game."

Lucy smiled and placed her hand on the woman's thigh. "We can handle it. Just trust us."

Erza watched Lucy's reaction and her energy made the moody redhead smile as well. "Thank you."

Lucy beamed. A few moments passed before Erza felt the blonde's hand moving up her leg. "Um…Lucy?"

"Hm?"

"Y-your hand." She stammered.

Lucy looked down and she saw her hand subconsciously moving towards her thigh. She yelped and pulled away. "O-Oh S-sorry."

Erza watched her teammate pull back and giggled. "It's okay Lucy. I don't mind." She leaned over to blonde making the girl's face turn red. "I wonder…what you hide under here."

Lucy wanted to push her away, but the unusual gentleness of her captain made her pause. Before long, the blonde's shirt was pulled up to expose her bountiful breasts clad in a pink bra.

"My, Natsu's gonna be a lucky man to touch these." Erza commented. Before Lucy could rebuke it, the red head continued. "We know he's got the hots for you. I think you know he likes you too."

Lucy gulped. "Can you keep a secret?" At the red head's nod, she continued. "We've been dating for the last two weeks, we just kept it under wraps.

Erza smiled. "Well now, who knew Natsu could keep a secret. Now if only Lisanna and Stephen could get together."

"Yes…well can you get off me please?"

The red head sat up allowing Lucy to fix her clothes. "Right, so I trust you won't let this get in the way of your commitment to the team?"

Lucy shook her head. "No. Of course not."

"Good. Thank you for visiting me." Erza told her as they stood up.

"No problem, if you need anything you can always come to me." The midfielder responded patting her shoulder before leaving. Closing the door, Erza collapsed to floor, her heart pounding. _Why is Lucy making my heart pound so much…'_

Meanwhile Lucy was sprinting back to her room, her heart beating face and face flushed muttering under her breath. "I'm straight, I'm straight."

(End Song)

Two days later, November 5th Tower of Heaven

The Tower of Heaven Stadium had been the long-time home of FC Babylon. The 45,000 seat stadium had undergone several renovations as the fortunes of the club ebbed and flowed. For the last 5 years, portions of the stadium had been cordoned off as the club's rebuilding in the lower tiers turned fans away. But for the first time since FC Babylon's fall from grace, Akane would have a team in First Tier.

This year it had been a struggle, currently with 3 wins in all columns. But they still had hope as they hadn't played the bottom teams quite yet. Still, facing Magnolia City had been, up until this been a relative pushover. However, they had not been beaten at all, domestically, cups or even internationally, so the task was becoming an increasingly tough prospect. But for the blue-haired lead striker, Jellal Fernandez, the game was personal for one reason, Erza Scarlet.

 _Erza…you broke my heart 6 years ago. Now you've come home to roost. This will be an interesting game._ He thought to himself as he launched a kick past the goal keeper Fukuro.

"Impressive shot, Jellal."

The striker scoffed. "Nothing to it. I put a couple of shots past that oaf and Magnolia City's run will end."

"And we will have our revenge against our dear friend Erza," an Italian voice rang out behind. He turned to see an older gentleman with a five o clock shadow next to a blond man with a cocky smirk. They were dressed in the home uniforms, a dark blue shirt with purple shorts.

"Our dear sister should not have abandoned us. Now everyone on Magnolia City is fair game," the blond told him. "If that American were playing, he would have been mine!"

"Patience Sho, his injury was out of your hands," Jellal told him. "Your to go after one of the midfielders depending on the formation. They need to be brought down a peg and we as Babylon are the ones that will smite them. For we are the future gods of this league!"

The team cheered as his proclamation. Jellal turned and grinned to himself. _This game will be interesting to say the least._

Same Time Magnolia City conference Room

Gildarts watched as the rest of the team filed in. He took a glance and saw Stephen leaning against the wall. As much as he wanted to play him this game, after an injury like the one against Magnolia United, he didn't want to chance. So he was going to sit him this week and next week's Mavis Cup game, though granted he was going to sit him for that game as well. Now the question was going to be the formation they would play.

"Alright everyone glad your all here. Your training has been on point this week. But we need to keep the same focus we had against Magnolia United as we do against this weeks opponent." He activated the projector. "AFC Babylon. Formerly FC Babylon before scandals and liquidation forced it to fold and become a Phoenix Club. Currently in 7th but not for a lack of trying. They have only score seven goals and allowed 6, with 3 wins, 3 draws, 3 loses." The score line raised a few eyebrows but most waited for the next slide.

"Two key areas of concern. Jellal Fernandez is a dangerous striker he can easily score from any spot on the field. His speed can easily match most of our attackers. If Stephen weren't on the bench we would setting him to be a roaming forward."

Stephen nodded. Compared to Natsu, he didn't need to be in the front all the time. He found his strength lied in being a striker that could strike from the side and keep the attention away from other attacker. Having the endurance to keep up with the faster strikers also helped him when the games got near the end. He wished that he could play, but doctor's orders. Besides he had a different gig that day.

"The other case for concern is Fukuro. The keeper." Gildarts drew everyone's attention to the owl eyed keeper. "He's currently the number one goal keeper, with 6 goals allowed. Elfman is currently tied for second with 7 goals allowed. This may become a defensive struggle. We need our backlines to be focused." He then pulled up a slide with the formation. "We're going for the Christmas Tree. Four Back, three center, two attacking midfielders, and Natsu. Erza will be one of the attackers, the other will either be Grey or Lisanna. As for Center midfielders, it will be whoever's not attacking, Lucy and Cana."

A snide voice spoke up. "Why am I not playing? I'm better than your daughter!" The voice revealed themselves to be Evergreen.

"Because she has been a team player unlike you and your posse only play for one player."

The woman chuckled. "Yes, and that one player is going to be ready in a couple of weeks." She turned to the American in the back room. "You best watch your back, because Laxus will be coming for his spot."

Stephen slowly walked towards her. "Good luck with that. The team likes me and the fans like me. Laxus, well to put it mildly, was a dick. Unless he can prove that he is the better player, the coach still trusts me to play." He stopped in front of her. "And I'm not giving up the spot without a fight."

Evergreen wanted to smack him but held back for two reasons. One, he was still technically injured. Two, rising to his taunts would validate his argument.

"Just be glad both of you are injured. Otherwise Laxus would be playing Saturday!" She huffed and walked away, Freed and Bickslow in tow.

Stephen sighed. "What the heck are their problems?"

"You're a rookie and a foreigner," Erza replied as the meeting broke up. "Fiorians like to look after their own despite our nature for hospitality. Evergreen was an upper-class woman before she became a soccer midfielder and latched onto Laxus' rising star. When he went down and you and Lucy came in, its like your muscling in on her turf. "

"And being an American puts be at an inherent disadvantage," He groaned. "Look I get it, we aren't the most liked, but more often than not, when people need help, they aren't exactly hesitant to ask us."

Natsu though asked a different question. "So where are you gonna be? You're not gonna be sitting at home are ya?"

Stephen chuckled. "On the contrary, the Federation gave approval to use my stream as a test bed for future streaming purposes. I'm gonna be up in the booth talking to my audience and new audience members. So I'll be rooting for ya!"

The American talked animatedly about what he was going to do. Off to the side, the player everyone was talking about clenched his fists. _Laugh while you can. That spot is mine once the doctors._ Laxus thought clenching his fists.

Saturday November 7th, an hour and a half before game time

Stephen was fiddling with the cameras as he made final adjustments for the stream. Unlike his normal streams he was dressed in a blue dress shirt and khakis. It was unfortunate, but they were going to be professional on this stream

"Alright, can everyone hear us? Thumbs up or down." He saw the majority of the chat that was awake had thumbs up but the volume was loud. "Alright turning it down. And we are good on my end. Mr. Thompson, Mr. Lola you guys ready?"

The two announcers came on screen and they revealed they were in the announcer booth. "Yes we are. Thank you for joining us in this experiment." Chamati told him.

"Yeah this is so cool!" Jason gushed.

Stephen smiled. "No problem. Alright, we are ready to go, let just take this off." He turned the picture on his computer off revealing the three people.

"How's it going guys? Its Stephen Decatur here. Coming to you from not in my bedroom but the announcer booth here at the Tower of Heaven stadium in Akane, Magnolia. Joining me today are the announcers for today's games. Chamati Lola to my left and Jason Thompson to my right."

Chamati laughed sheepishly. "I know people are online a lot, but this is the first time we've done a Q&A and a broadcast directly with the audience. So we are understandably nervous with some of the tech here."

"But its so cool to do this!" Jason gushed. "This is of course an experiment for future streaming. We're gonna do a Q&A, the pre-game and the game itself plus some post game stuff!"

Stephen chuckled. "So yeah, we're looking at about a three to four hour stream. So since this is gonna be a public stream, your behavior will be on display as well. We don't want what happened during Outlast do we?"

"What happened during this Outlast?" Chamati asked.

"A certain player who got suspended for his actions in another game, decided to crash my stream and harass my audience," Stephen muttered. "I kicked him off after giving him a few chances. That's the one that's gonna change for this stream. You guys get out of line I will ask my mod to ban you."

"Speaking of suspension, Minerva Orlando got a seven game suspension and is the reason why you're up here this week. Sting got three for his yellow cards. In addition, next two hme games are gonna be behind closed doors due to the crowd reaction" Jason pointed out.

"Should have been longer on Orlando's suspension, I could have broken my neck with how hard she kneed my head," Stephen grumbled. "But what's done is done. Move on.

"Right. Anyway, that game was rough, but somehow you squeaked out a 2-3 away win against your rivals. What was it like being in that grudge match?" Chamati asked him.

"I have to say some calls went their way more than us, but the ones that did go our way had a huge impact."

As the pre-show continued, they answered several questions, like the thoughts on the year so far and opinions on certain players going forward. A half hour before the game, Chamati got Stephen's attention letting him know the broadcast would begin soon. Stephen quickly flipped the feed from his computer to the broadcast camera.

Chamati:Good Afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to week 10 of the First Saint League. I am Chamati Lola alongside Jason Thomson. We are live from the Resort Town Akane for AFC Babylon and Magnolia City. Looking at the standings, Magnolia City is sitting comfortably at the top of the table with a three point lead over Alverez. They visit Black Cube over at the Hades Arena." Turning to Jason he continued. "Jason, how would United handle being without two of their stars for three games in the case of Eucliffe and seven in the case of Orlando."

Jason: Well, if our guest today has anything to say about it, she should have gotten a longer suspension. We are joined today by Stephen Decatur, who has a reputation for being a streamer in his off time. Stephen, first of all welcome to the booth and glad you're okay.

Stephen: Thank you. It wasn't that hard of a hit in the end, but they wanted me to stay out just to be safe. Anyway, the league called me up last, week said they'd give me a shot at livestreaming the games. So the injury might be a lucky coincidence on my part.

Chamati: That's right, we are glad you are okay. If you want to join the conversation, the stream is on Stephen's channel, Crimsonosprey on Twitch. Now for the game itself. Today's game is all about the goalkeepers, Elfman Strauss of Magnolia City and Fukuro of Babylon. Coming into today, they are the number 1 and 3 goals allowed.

Stephen: Elfman was pretty excited to be playing today. He's been great all year both domestically and internationally. Helping that out is a great backline and a great attacking squad like Natsu and Erza.

Jason: And yourself. (Stephen laughs) Even without you, they have enough firepower to score multiple goals in a game.

Stephen: Literally in the case of Natsu. When he gets a shot, he takes it. His accuracy might be low, but if you set him up right, he can create scoring opportunities.

Chamati: That midfield has been amazing since Heartfillia and the younger Strauss came into the line-up. As we take a look at the City line-up, without Stephen, they've gone with the Christmas Tree line up, 4-3-2-1. Natsu is the lone forward, while the attacking midfielders will be Fullbuster and Scarlet. This opens up Cana Alberona to play on the right, Lucy Heartfillia on the left and Lisanna Strauss in the center.

Stephen: An interesting line up without me there but having the younger Strauss in the center would allow Lucy to be a third attacker if need be as Cana can be a disruption on the right.

Chamati: Speaking of your scarlet-haired captain, she has a bit of a history with the old Babylon club. She was on the last Academy team before a financial scandal ruined them.

Stephen: Like most of us, we tend to keep our pasts to ourselves. However, I believe Erza can keep the past from haunting her present.

Jason: AFC Babylon is no joke as they boast some great firepower with Jellal Fernandez as the lead striker. However, Fukuro is the only one keep the Saints where they are because their offense has been anemic coming into today. Seven goals scored and 6 allowed. Probably the reason they have 3's across the board.

Chamati: In comparison, City has 25 goals scored vs 7 allowed. The offense has really stepped up since Laxus Dreyer went down. I bet Mr. Decatur has something to say.

Stephen: Well can't take all the credit. From what I hear, Laxus is gonna be back soon. I ain't leaving without a fight.

Chamati then sent the game to a commercial and Stephen took a deep breath. "Alright now, we just got to switch the feeds back to my computer. You two are just gonna talk normally, I'm gonna be the go to for the audience."

He turned to the Twitch chat. "Alright folks, its game time, you know the rules, let's rock this stream and make it memorable!"

The chat quickly filled up, the moderators warning those that used coarse language. "Alright let's get this show on the road.

In the Tunnel

Erza stood next to the wall, her eyes focused on the hallway that lead to the other side of the stadium. She knew that way lead to the Babylon locker room and the entrance for that side of the field. She had caught a glimpse of the team but said nothing as they were more focused on the game.

"-rza? Erza? ERZA!" Someone shouted. The redhead jumped at the voice and turned around to see Lucy and Natsu watching her with concern. "You okay?" Lucy asked.

Erza shook her head. "I'm fine. Just some memories.

"Your old team right?" Lucy realized to Natsu's confusion.

The red head nodded. Natsu grinned. "Who cares!? We'll kick their asses just as hard as anyone in this league.

Erza giggled at his enthusiasm. "You're right. We shouldn't be focusing on them. We should be focused on winning." She watches as the rest of the team lined up. She got her normal focus in her eyes. "Alright! Line-up! Let's Move!" As she spoke she walked to the back of the line with Lucy and Natsu before walking back and high fiving each person in the line. They followed her briskly to the exit to the tunnel.

In the back of the line, Natsu was pounding Lisanna and Lucy's fists and albeit reluctantly Grey's. "I think this would be more impactful with Stephen here." Lisanna quipped.

"We can do it with him next time, let's kick some ass!" Grey cheered as they lined up behind everyone else. At a given signal, they were escorted onto the field. Unlike with United, the Babylon crowd was a lot more respectfully as they clapped for the opposing team reaching midfield. A few moments passed before a guitar riff followed by a harmonica solo played through the stadium.

Up in the booth, Stephen had to laugh "Heaven or Hell by Volbeat. Nice.

"Are you a rock fan?" Chamati asked.

"Huge fan. When I'm not playing a scary game I got rock music playing during my streams. Although I find that some of the songs I've heard are really appropriate for the team."

"Sounds cool!" Jason complimented as Babylon stopped at midfield.

On the field, after the photos were taken, they began to shake hands. Erza briefly looked away from Jellal as they went through the line before doubling back for the coin toss. The blue haired striker grinned as she approached. "Hello again Erza."

"Jellal." Erza said softly, reluctantly holding out her hand to greet the striker and the refs. The lead ref got their attention and asked for the coin flip as the visiting team. She called heads and she got it. She decided to have the ball for the second half. After words of encouragement, the refs shook hands with the captains before the former friends stared at each other.

"I hope this game isn't boring. After all, there is so much our two sides can do today." He walked away leaving Erza to shudder at his tone.

Booth

Chamati: The teams are ready, the fans are ready and the…chat is ready. Jellal Fernandez is ready with the ball.

Stephen: Let's get this party rocking, #MAGC for Magnolia City, #AFB for Babylon show your support!

Chamati: And there's the whistle. We are underway here in Akane! Jellal dumps it to Sho, he's charging up the field. Back across the field to Ikaruga! She passes it! Fernandez is on side! Beats the back line! AND IN! What a quick start for the Babylon striker!

Jason: Looks like City was caught asleep at the wheel a bit there. (Replay is shown.) What a great set up by the midfielder and a great finish by Jellal Fernandez!

Stephen: Also saw a bit of a lapse by Erza. Normally she's in the center. She still should have caught this and its first blood AFC Babylon. If I know my teammates, Natsu and or Lucy is gonna be talking to her when they get a chance.

AFC Babylon vs Magnolia City

Fernandez (AFB) 1'

True to his predictions, when the ball went out of bounds ten minutes later. Lucy jogged up to Erza. "Erza are you okay?"

The red headed captain shook her head. "I'm fine."

"No you're not. Is this about Jellal?"

Erza sighed. "I'm sorry. Sometimes the memories just make me hesitate."

"Well don't let them!" The blonde demanded. "You let him win, we will be playing 11 on 10 all day. Get your head in the game!"

Seeing the normally calm headed Midfielder snap her, made the captain realize she was right. She needed to snap out of it. Seeing the throw going towards to Jellal, she followed the ball and ran at the striker.

Jellal saw her coming and smirked. Right into his plans. Before he could do anything though, he felt himself trip and fall to the ground. He looked up to see Lisanna passing it to Natsu. The striker threw up his hands asking for a foul but the ref signaled play on.

Booth

Chamati: A bit of chippiness for the former friends, ref says play on

Stephen: Looks like something got through to the captain, she's show her normal aggressiveness. She's the only one with Card trouble, sitting on 3.

Jason: Let's hope they can keep this up. Long way to go though.

For the next few minutes, the game settled down somewhat from the City side. Babylon however was still trying to be aggressive and the refs were wary to hand down fouls. When Sho attacked Lucy and tripped her 15 yards from the box, the ref had seen enough and gave the blonde man a yellow.

As Lucy lined up, she scanned the box and spotted Natsu and Erza near the keeper. Lining up the kick, she gave the signal and launched it. It passed over the wall and ended up in Natsu's clutches. He kicked it, but Fukuro was quick enough to deflect it away. Unluckily, it went past his defenders and onto Lisanna's leg, who was kicked it right over the diving keeper's head. Mira was hugging her as she raced around the field.

Booth

Chamati: Heartfillia takes the ball, hard charge by Sho and she gets knocked know. That's a free kick from 15 yards out and it's a card.

Stephen: That charge looked deliberate, they are gunning for heads. That's what…13 cards this year for the team?

Jason: Third least carded team in the league, behind Mermaid Scale and City.

Stephen: And now they have a set piece and Heartfillia is taking the shot.

Jason: Looks like about 20 yards out as the teams' line up.

Stephen: Her first target is gonna be Dragneel, second target might be the Strauss sisters.

Chamati: Heartfillia lines up, the wall in place. Signals for the kick. Rears back, Fires! Its in traffic! Natsu hits it, Off the Goal keeper! RIGHT ONTO THE LEGS OF LISANNA AND IN! What a Finish! Its One All here at the Tower of Heaven!

Stephen: There we go Lis! Great shot!

Jason: Ever since she entered this line up, Heartfillia has been a playmaker. She can shoot, she can set up plays and this kick was amazing.

Lisanna jogged up to Lucy and Natsu and bumped fists. "Nice finish Lis!"

"Great set up Lucy!" The white haired girl turned to Natsu. "Sorry I took your shot."

"Don't sweat it!" The forward told her. "I got the next one."

AFC Babylon 1-1 Magnolia City

Fernandez (AFB) 1'

Li. Strauss (MAGC) 15'

After that goal, the game slowed down. Babylon was still trying to get fouls, some justified others not called. Once the half was called, the commentators turned away from the field.

Chamati: That was a relatively exciting half. A few fouls and two great scores.

Jason: (Highlights are shown on camera and on stream) This goal the defense was caught sleeping. You seriously can't let this through with a striker of this caliber.

Stephen: Could have been something on Erza's mind. But the goal woke the team up.

Jason: 14th minute, off the Free kick thanks to a hard charge.

Chamati: Its like whenever Heartfillia touches the ball, she's creating a goal. She dumps the free kick into the box and after a rebound, Lisanna Strauss gets the shot.

Stephen: The chat was blowing up after that goal. I brag about the team quite frequently.

Chamati: I take it that's a good thing.

Stephen: It means they are excited. Hopefully, when the next goal happens they won't break my computer. Anyway, the chat's been vocal about some of the physicality from both sides. I know this isn't the prettiest game we've played.

Chamati: For whatever reason most clubs play Magnolia City hard. Is there a reason you can think of?

Stephen: Nothing from the previous seasons. This year, being unbeaten across all competitions paint a target on our back. Think we only have one tie to go with our 5 Champion's League, nine league wins and one cup win.

Chamati: That's probably the most impressive part, you haven't lost a single game this year. And you've done it with almost the same cast every game.

Stephen: This is the first time for the League I haven't played in. I think we've done five different line-ups. First was with Laxus next to Natsu, when he went down I stepped up, then Lucy took Evergreen's spot and Lisanna took Freed's spot. I think the Barcelona game was the first time we had a line up we were all comfortable with. But the fact that we've had the same 5 players, Natsu, Erza, Grey, Mira and Elfman in every game this year save the one Cup game has been nothing short of amazing.

Jason: You got that right. So what will happen when Laxus does come back?

Stephen: He's got to earn the spot back, plain and simple. But its Chairman Dreyer and Coach Clive's call.

Chamati: Indeed. When we come back, highlights from around the league including Magnolia United struggling at the Mermaid's Cove.

Once the camera cut out, Stephen let out a whoop. "Damn, I normally don't talk that much on stream. I have no idea how Tobiwan does it."

"Tobiwan?" Chamati asks confused.

"A caster for the game DOTA 2. I'm more of a League of Legends guy, because I don't have the patience for it." Stephen explained. "He gets excited really easily. Anyway, I don't talk to the audience unless they either ask a question or I want to speak about the game." Looking at the chat, he laughed at the famous quote from said caster.

"It's a disattah?" Jason asked weirdly.

"It's a quote of his. You're supposed to say it IT'S A DISTASHHH! It's a quote of his from The International 5 DOTA tournament when one of the North American teams pulled off a 2 man combo that wiped four people out and essentially gave them the game and the title." He leaned back. "A shoutcaster talks loudly, because they started as online radio announcers. They are talking as if the audience isn't there but listening to it. But because the games can be long, they need to have endurance and the ability to shift on the fly. Sounds like a normal caster right? Hardest part is staying neutral but thankfully the audience knows where the bias is coming from."

"When you put it that way, I guess you're right," Chamati admitted before the cameras were turned back onto them.

In the tunnel

Erza sat against the wall and let out a breath. The first half went well, but she still couldn't break the hold that Jellal seem to have on her.

"Erza?" She looked up to see Lucy and Natsu watching her, worry on their faces.

"I'm fine guys," She replied as she stood up. "Really I am." She looked in their faces and saw she wasn't convincing them. "Fine, I still feel like something is holding me back. I just can't seem to shake my bonds from them.

"So what Erza?" Natsu asked surprising her. "That's the past, and we're in the present. See this shield?" He patted the Magnolia City emblem. "You're a City player first. Our pasts don't define us!"

"He's right Erza. I faced my father's team and look how I did." Lucy agreed. "We need you Erza. No," She grabbed the captain's hand and Natsu's hand clasped them together. "We need our captain."

Erza watched as Lucy gripped her and Natsu's hands. She nodded and placed it over their hands. "A captain you deserve."

They stood like that for a few moments before a cute giggle caught their attention. They turned to see the Strauss siblings watching with glee. "You three are so cute together," Mira gushed.

"Yeah, like me and Stephen." Lisanna cheered then everyone snapped to her with wide eyes and she gulped. "Well…didn't want you guys to find out this way. But yeah, me and Stephen are dating."

Mira tapped her chin. "Well me and Elfman are gonna have a talk with him. More to the point, how long are you three going to hold hands?"

The three looked and blushed and separated. Mira giggled. "So funny. Natsu, we'll talk more after the game. For now, let's kick some ass."

Erza nodded and turned around. "Right. Let's go people!" She marched out onto the field, her teammates moving to catch up with her.

Booth

Chamati: As the teams take the field, we wonder if the teams made any half time adjustments.

Stephen: If I know City, the way they are playing is not acceptable and someone finally got through to Erza. (Sneezes off screen) And I feel like I pissed off the devil….Damn it I think I know why.

Jason: Is it Erza for talking about you?

Stephen: No…I feel like its Mira. She's a matchmaker and she's probably found someone was keeping a relationship secret.

Chamati: On that note, Magnolia City will start the half with the ball. No changes on either side. (Ref's whistle blows) And here we go. Dragneel takes it, passes it to the younger Strauss. She runs up, avoids a tackle from Taka but Ikaruga knocks it away and takes her down. It's a throw for Babylon. Ikaruga throws to Fernandez. Intercepted by Scarlet who catches the striker off guard.

Jason: She looks more in control this time.

Chamati: Scarlet passes it up to Dragneel, who gets it to Fullbuster! Fires! Flag's up!

Stephen: Erza's back in form. That was probably the best sequence for City all day.

Over the next few minutes, Babylon learned that even if City was known for their cleaner play, it do not mean they knew how to play aggressive. Grey was battling Black haired striker Vidaleaus and at the 57th, he got the midfielder to foul him enough for a card.

Meanwhile Lucy and Lisanna were forced to face Ikaruga. Normally she would have been left to Erza, but with Stephen out, the two wings were forced to cover more ground then normal. Though both girls drew a card, Ikaruga got a card as well at the 70th minute.

Booth

Chamati: Its getting a bit chippy out there that's the fifth card this game to Ikaruga.

Stephen: Something about City, other than being the leaders makes every time want to play them hard.

Jason: They are the old guard in a sense. Even with a young team like yours, it says something to face a team of prestiege. Granted the luster seems to be gone at the moment but its still a historic franchise.

Chamati: Dragneel gets the break, passes it to Lisanna. She's got Scarlet onside. Fernandez, TRIPS HER! IN the Box! The ref blows the whistle! He's pointing to the spot and he's reaching for his pocket. Dragneel and Fullbuster are in the opposing striker's face as the captain slow to get up.

Stephen: Come on Erza, you've taken worse. (Sees the replays and the chat agrees) That was a bad tackle and he should have gotten more. Yellow is fine and City has a penalty kick.

Jason: Scarlet is finally up and she's waving off the other players. Dragneel and Fullbuster calmed down. Question who is going to take the shot?

Stephen: Knowing them? Erza's gonna take it.

Indeed Erza had convinced everyone that she would take the shot. She took the ball from the ref and placed it on the spot. Looking at the keeper, she watched him pound his chest and set himself to receive the shot. She looked behind her to see the various players ready to charge in. She caught side of Jellal who could only smirk. Then Natsu's hair stood in front of him. His infectious smile made her smile as well as she turned back to the goal. She raised her hand, letting the ref blow his whistle. Bouncing on her feet, she took two large strides and fired to the top left of the goal. Fukuro, thinking he could block it, ducked to the side she was firing. But she wasn't considered one of the best goal scorers as she put all of her power behind it and slipped past the fingers. Natsu was already hugging her as the ball sailed into the goal.

Booth

Chamati: Scarket lines up. (Whistle) Here we go. She steps up! Fires! AND IN! What a goal from the captain!

Stephen: Way to go girl! Great shot!

Jason: Scarlet is the captain for a reason. Everyone on that team trusts her to lead them to victory and she delivered.

On the field, City finished their celebrations and headed back to the circle. Erza happened to glance around to see Jellal arguing with his defenders. He caught her eye and unlike before where she looked away, Jellal was forced to turn away

AFC Babylon 1-2 Magnolia City

Fernandez (AFB) 1'

Li. Staruss (MAGC) 15'

Scarlet (MAGC) 73' (PEN)

After the goal, the life seem to be sucked out of Babylon. Natsu added an insurance goal five minutes later and the game ended in 1-3 victory for Magnolia City.

With Babylon and Erza's past defeated, they now turn to the next set of games, knowing that Laxus was almost ready to come back and play. What will happen? Find out next time as the First Saint League continues.

 **END OF Chapater**

 **UO: That took forever! So long that your getting two updates for the price of one.**

 **New Teams**

 **AFC Babylon: A phoenix club that has found its back to the First Saint League. Finished 8** **th** **last year**

 **NIckname: the Saints**

 **Home: White and blue. Away. Blue and Black.**

 **Symbol: Large tower with two angel wings coming from the base.**

 **Preview: As Magnolia City prepares to face Real Veronica, Laxus Dreyer is cleared to play and a civil war seems to be brewing in the locker room. What will happen? Find out next time.**

 **Please Review Kindly. Also check out my pals, Lalapie203, Spartan719, Code-Emperor07, Kurogane 7, Soleneus, Soulsilverlord, Vanishing Raptor, Kage Bijuu, Giratina Zero EvashinobiKaiserKnight Kamen Rider Super-Fan and NorthSouthGorem. I help on a lot of their works. Also call me out on mistakes.**


	11. Tension Rises: Magnolia City Vs Veronica

**OSPREY…SWOOOSH**

 **UO: Alright then let's keep this train moving while Remnants of Tri gets off the ground. Before my actor check I have a review response**

 **MasterGildarts: Thanks for the praise. I try to understand enough of it and hoped that I translate it well to paper. Next time I would like to talk to you directly in regards to the review.**

 **Anyway, Everyone here?  
Natsu: You got it**

 **Lucy: *Groan* So much work**

 **Happy: Such a lazy ASSHHHHHH! *Gets sent flying**

 **Stephen: None of that now. Everyone else here?**

 **Erza: Yes. I made Sure of it!**

 ***Before it starts, a random car crashes through the building***

 **UO: Who the heck…*Clicks his keys* Not mine thank goodness**

 **Cana: What's up bitches?**

 **UO: Of course. DISCLAIMER!**

 **Erza: Unitedosprey1991 doesn't own any team or Fairy Tail**

 **UO: Start the show**

Normal text: Speaking or normal talking

Person's name followed by a colon: In-game announcer

 _"Quotes and Italics: Conversation over phones, T.V and computers._

' _Apostrophe and Italics': Thoughts_

 **Bold: Yelling**

Underline: Location and Time in game

Chapter 11: Tension Rises Magnolia City vs Real Veronica

Tuesday, November 10th, post Mavis Cup game

When we last left Magnolia City, they had gone to Akane and beaten AFC Baylon by a score of 1-3. This was despite not having Stephen in the game because of a concussion and Erza's mind being haunted by images of her old childhood friend. Thanks to some motivation by Lucy and Natsu, she was able to score a penalty kick and lead the team to victory.

Now they were preparing for two more games after today's game in the Mavis Cup. Being the first tier team they were, they easily won the game 2-0 over the Riverside Ogres. It was who was playing in that game that made some of the headlines. Laxus Dreyer was cleared to play in this game as Stephen had not been cleared to play in the cup game. He had an X-ray scheduled tomorrow to get his head cleared. Based on what the trainers were seeing, he was gonna clear the concussion protocol and be ready to play against Real Veronica this week and Barcelona the following week. But at the current moment he was focusing on something a bit more fun.

"The dumbest name for a Cat." Drew read and everyone playing was already in hystriecs. "Happy or Lily. Gajeel if this wasn't you I don't know who it is."

Gajeel snickered. "Happy is a dumb name for a cat."

"What was that?" Natsu growled. "Well at least I don't name a boy cat Lily."

"You shut your mouth flame brain!" Gajeel roared.

They were playing the game Quiplash, a game that pitted two stupid answers against each other and the others voted on it for points in the common room with a projector hooked up to Stephen's laptop. When time was up, it revealed that four people voted for Happy submitted by Black Steel and two people in the room voted for Lilly, submitted by Salamander. Despite that, the audience which was part of the game vote 63% to 37% in Natsu's favor which surprised everyone.

"Damn everyone liked Happy. Whether that's it's because they like Happy or just know Natsu." Lucy said, her tag being Queen of Hearts.

"Yeah well, I know my audience," Stephen boasted taking a drink. The next question had him choking on his drink and everyone laughing. "A secret that you may accidentally find out." Erza read. "Your Sister is dating your teammate vs. Your Roommate is dating your teammate."

Stephen turned to Mira who had a wide grin on her face. After the Babylon game, Mira had confronted him about keeping their relationship secret. During the time, Lucy tried to defend him only to inadvertently reveal she was dating Natsu. Mira had nearly burst everyone's eardrums with her squealing when she found out. Now that she had two couples she had started trying to pair everyone up much to their embarrassment.

When time was called everyone was split between White Devil and Crimson Osprey but the audience tipped it to Steve's answer.

"Damn it!" Mira pouted.

"Like I said, my audience."

After a couple of more questions, they reached the final round. The topic was: "A weird name for a band." A minute later the answers were revealed.

"Fairy Tail, Karakurizers, Treble Clef, Puns and Roses, Dragonslayers, there is a band called Dragonforce, Quatro Puppy, Bald Lightining and Strawberry cake," Stephen read off. "Geez I can just tell who made which ones. And I choose this one, this one and this one." He picked as the audience also picked their three.

The results came in and Quatro Puppy, which was Lucy's answer was first followed by Mira's Treble Cleff and Natsu's Bald Lightning. When the points were added up, Mira clapped in happiness as she won.

Stephen groaned. "Seriously. Congrats Mira." He looked at the computer to see the chat praising her. "You guys having fun? We are."

"Well you shouldn't be," A snide voice told him.

The American groaned. "Lis, pause the stream." He turned to the voice. "Laxus, way to spoil the party."

The blond striker scoffed. "Your playing games and what entertaining these losers on your precious computer.

"Those fans are just as interesting in watching Natsu and Grey fight each other for points as they are to watch me trying to beat a game," Stephen pointed out.

"Then you need to get a life," Laxus growled.

Stephen shook his head. "Whatever, just leave the room and let us play in peace.

"Hard to do that when you idiots are being loud."

"We'll keep it down, now please stop bothering us."

Laxus snarled. "You're lucky, you're still in the protocol, otherwise I would make sure you would never come out of it," He threatened before stomping up to his room.

Stephen groaned. "What the hell is his problem?"

"Who Cares!?" Natsu told him. "Come one we've only played one game!"

Stephen chuckled. "Alright. Let's see…Oooh Fibbage!"

The next couple of hours was a barrel of laughs, rude comments, drunken mistakes for some of them and overall a fun time. When the stream ended, everyone was exhausted but smiling as they headed up to their rooms.

Natsu had a giggling Lucy in his arms as he escorted her up to her room. Behind her Erza was making sure both of them were not doing anything indecent, her words anyway.

Coming to the door, the blonde fumbled with the key. "Tonight was fun!" She giggled finally getting it into the lock. She turned to her boyfriend and gave him a kiss. "Good night Natsu~!"

"Luce, how many drinks have you had?"

"Um…only one or two. Just a biiit strong for my taste." She reached up to kiss him again. When they released, the blonde pouted. "I really~ want you to stay over Natsu…but Erza's gonna kill both of us!"

The red sputtered at the accusation. "I-I won't kill you. H-He's your boyfriend."

Lucy giggled. "I'm just teasing you." She then pulled both of them close, getting a cute 'kya' out of the red head. "This feels nice. Natsu's so warm and Erza's so cuddly.

Erza's face resembled her hair. "L-Lucy?"

"I wish they could stay over!" She pouted. "Oh well!"

Natsu looked over at Erza. The red head shrugged. "It's only for a night. Plus we don't want her to hurt herself."

Lucy giggled as she led them into her room. She sat on the bed and kicked off her shoes. "This has been so fun."

"Lucy are you feeling alright?" Erza asked.

"Hm…Yep. A little tipsy but two of my favorite people are with me it's all good." The blonde leaned back onto the fluffy pillows and patted her stomach. "You two gonna join me?"

Both of them blushed at how direct they were, but they complied, Natsu shedding his shirt and Erza going down to her red lacy undergarments.

Lucy smiled. "So pretty~~" She grabbed both of them and hugged them to her bountiful chest. "I don't care if I regret this tomorrow. My teammates are the greatest." Before they could reply, she fell asleep."

Natsu watched his girlfriend doze off. He turned to his captain. "Been a while since we were like this."

"Yeah…last time was when you started out and you were homesick," Erza said softly. "I'm glad this team's evolved since we came to the team."

Natsu hummed and nuzzled into his girlfriend's chest. "You think Luce will freak out in the morning.

"Probably. But as long as we have our clothes on, we'll be fine. Anyway good night."

Natsu watched her doze off and smiled. He got himself comfy and drifted off to sleep himself.

Over at the forward's room, his roommate was heading back to their room with his girlfriend. Stopping in front of his door, he smiled at her shining blue orbs. "You have fun?"

"Yeah, we should do it again sometime!" Lisanna gushed.

"Alright then. I got a doctor's appointment in the morning, hopefully that means I get to come of the concussion protocol."

"Want me to come?"

Stephen waved his hand. "Nah, I'm a big boy. Thanks. Sweet dreams Lis." He leaned down to kiss her. A few moments of liplock later, they released and the American placed his head against hers. He chuckled at her flustered expression. "That's a cute look for ya."

The midfielder pouted. "Don't be mean."

"I'm not. Good night." The girl nodded and gave him one more kiss before walking away. Stephen watched her sway her hips before turning down a hall and blowing him a kiss. The striker chuckled before heading inside and falling asleep.

Next Day Lucy's Room about 9:00 AM

Lucy moaned as she blinked herself awake. She was glad her room was on the side not facing the sun, because her head hurt. _Stupid Alcohol._ She moaned internally. Feeling something pinning her down, she looked and her face resembled a strawberry. On her left breast was her boyfriend, sleeping like a little kid. On her right, was Erza sleeping cutely against her stomach. The fact they were dressed put her mind at ease. _They must have taken back and made sure I was fine._ She smiled, the pain in her head slowly diminishing. _I have the best teammates._

A couple of moments of watching them sleep later and Erza's eyes twitched before blinking open. She yawned, which got a giggle out of the blonde. The captain turned her head to Lucy. "Morning. You feeling alright?"

"A minor headache, but nothing that a couple of Advil won't fix," The midfielder replied. Then her face softened. "Thanks for staying with me."

Erza hummed. "Anything for a teammate." At this point, Natsu began to grumble himself awake. He blearily opened his eyes and saw the two women watching him sleep. "Morning," he yawned.

"Morning. Comfy?" Lucy asked.

"Yes," Natsu replied. "Sorry about this."

"Don't be," Lucy told him softly. "You were taking care of me."

Natsu hummed and slowly rolled out of bed. "Gonna see if I can sneak back."

Erza shook her head. "You don't have to do that Natsu. Your fine right here."

The striker frowned in confusion. "This seems a little weird…"

"Its fine. Hopefully it won't happen too often," Lucy assured him.

Erza was confused as to why what Lucy said stung her yet filled her with hope. She slowly rolled off the bed. "I'm gonna see if I can make us something." She walked out of the room, an unconscious sway to her hips.

Lucy watched her leave and noticed out of the corner of her eye saw Natsu staring at their captain's ass.

"Look but don't touch Natsu," Lucy giggled, making him blush.

"Sorry, I've…never seen Erza like this."

"Hard to keep your eyes off her," Natsu admitted. "But your mine." He told her kissing her forehead.

Lucy hummed. "Good. Come on let's go see what Erza's making."

Natsu nodded and helped the girl out of the bed.

An hour later, down on the field

Stephen was already dressed and ready to practice, having gone to the field before almost everyone else. The reason being he was still in the concussion protocol and he wanted to clear it before any of the other players showed up.

"Alright, are you feeling any dizziness?" Bisca asked for Polyrusica.

"No. First couple of days afterwards yeah, adrenaline was pumping a bit. The cameras afterwards were giving me a headache. You guys examined me afterwards and diagnosed me."

"You should have been pulled from the game." The aged doctor told him.

"Just glad you didn't. Anyway how am I doing?"

The older woman sighed. "No balance issues from what I can tell. Try to run to the edge of the box and back. Do your routine."

Stephen nodded and ran up to the edge of the box before running into place. Bouncing around a couple times, he jogged back and then did a spin.

"Looks good to me. Now try to take a shot on goal. Doranbolt try to stop him."

Stephen kicked it up outside of the box and stared down the backup forward. Blinking, his vision greyed out. He saw Jet in a light red, indicating a friendly opponent while Bisca and Polyrusica was in green. He saw the line again and trusting his instinct he followed it. He ran up a couple of yards before quickly spun around. Doranbolt, was confused watched him come from his left and went to meet him. Two yards from him, Stephen saw the arrow go over his head and flipped it above his head. The back-up striker stumbled as he finished the move and kicked it in.

He turned to the doctors. He could see Bisca was smiling and Polruuscia was neutral. The older doctor stepped forward. "You look fine. But something is still troubling me. Have you felt any slower since the injury?"

Stephen frowned and held his chin. "No. In fact, I think my mind has started to speed up. I mean my mind was already going fast…but I noticed it seemed to pick up."

Polyrusica hummed. "Well…I personally would like to keep you off the field for another week to see if there are any lingering effects, but even a mild concussion will have that risk. I believe you're cleared for playing. However." She paused his celebration which got a pout from. "I don't want you playing a full game until I say otherwise. I will check you after the next two games. But I see no reason to keep you off the bench for this week's game."

Stephen nodded. "Thanks. I'll keep trying to figure this out." He jogged up to the other side to see Natsu and Lucy coming out onto the field.

"Hey Stephen!" Natsu called to his roommate. "What are you doing here?"

"Succeeding in passing the concussion protocol! Stephen told him which go a cheer from the couple.

"Yeah. That's where your gonna stay rookie!" A snide voice cut them all off. They turned to see Laxus marching over to them. "Now that I'm better, your gonna just sit there and watch me lead this team to victory!"

Stephen shook his head. "Your leg would need more time to heal to be functional. That concussion of mine was my first and hopefully I won't have too many. If I know coaches, we're not gonna start on Saturday."

The blond man growled. "Just sit there and be amazed at my skills rookie!"

Stephen shook his head. "I swear he think he's god's gift to men. I can think of a few players that are much better than him and some of them aren't on this team!

"So…What's your status for Saturday?" Lucy asked changing the subject.

"On the bench to start, but available to play. Chances are, I would go in ahead of Laxus because he got the Cup game."

Lisanna glanced at Laxus out of the corner of her eye. "I would rather have you on the field over him."

"Same here," Natsu told him.

"Up to the coach. But I like my chances."

As they began warming up, Gildarts watched the group of five that has been the bedrock of their team for last two months.

"It's like he never left." Makarov observed walking up to the coach. He watched the American help Lisanna in her warm ups. "These kids are something special."

The coach hummed. "The question is can they keep this up? I mean, we haven't lost at all...in any competition."

"True." Makarov agreed. "Our sponsors have been very happy with our season across the board. But the question going forward is now we have six forwards and at most we're gonna be dressing four."

"As much as Stephen and Laxus argue, Stephen has a point. He has stepped up since Laxus got hurt. Gonna be hard for your grandson to get it into his head that not everyone plays the same way he wants to play. Stephen's adaptability is allowing Natsu to play more aggressive."

Makarov hummed. "Whereas with Laxus as the second forward or the only forward, he doesn't slow down and wants people to play with his tempo. Natsu has the same issue, but when paired with Stephen, it gives both sides someone to pass to.

"Thus why the line-up is set as it was. Natsu and Stephen up front, Erza and Lucy on Natsu's side, Grey and Lisanna on Stephen's side."

"It helps that Stephen is much more likable than my Grandson."

Practice continued as normal. It was after lunch when Stephen was heading back to his dorm. He was gonna see if the ZF clan was around or DOTA was updated. He heard a big update was coming up. Sue him, he liked gaming.

"Stephen?" The elder voice of the team owner called out to him.

"Hm? Mr. Dreyer, how's it going?" Stephen asked surprised.

"Nothing my boy. Just looking for you to chat. Wondering what you're up to?"

"Oh, just taking some time to see I can stream something today. I have a couple of games I want to try."

"Ah, yes. Esports. Very interesting concept. You've said there are competitions for other sports, like FIFA right?"

Stephen nodded as they headed towards his room. "Yeah, biggest ones though are the two MOBAs, League of Legends and DOTA 2 and the shooters Counter Strike and Overwatch."

Makarov hummed. "Do you mind if I sit in on the stream sometime?"

"Really?" The American asked. "Alright, I might not stream much today, but you can watch now."

He entered the room to see Natsu sitting down watching something on the room T.V. "Gramps?"

"Hello Natsu. Just coming to here to see what Stephen's streaming's all about."

"Oh?" Natsu asked. "You'll have a great time, he has a lot of fun with his chat and the game."

Makarov nodded and walked into see Stephen setting up. A quick post to Twitter and he was on stream.

"Alright everyone, how's it going? We got about a thousand people watching. Its good to see everyone today. Taking a look at Twitch, it looks like some of the ZF clan is active. Let's see what they are up to." He hit up the Discord chat. "Soviet you there?"

" _Oz? Hey how's it going?"_

First day back in pads and I'm doing great. Got my boss here with me. He's gonna see what I do in my off time."

" _Okay. Hope he don't mind salty language…_

 _(Cynaide sings horribly) Or complete idiocy. CYNAIDE!"_

Stephen facepalmed. "One of those streams?" He turned to the chuckling owner. "We're normally not like this. On other games I typically go solo.

He waved it off. "Its fine. This is just like seeing my team interact.

"Right. Anyway, the elder gentlemen with me is my boss, Makarov Dreyer. He's been a big help in me integrating into the team."

" _How nice. Hello Mr. Dreyer. I hope you enjoy our stream._

"Right that was Soviet Womble. He and I are the only sane people here," Stephen explained.

Makarov hummed. "After the stream, I want to talk to you about something you might be interested in."

Stephen nodded and got back on stream. An hour later, Stephen was still playing well from the last time they played.

"So unfortunately, the guy that was here before me now wants his spot back and I ain't gonna give it to him."

" _You shouldn't. How many goals have you scored? Seven or Eight I haven't kept up. OW!"_ Soviet shouted as the round ended with their team losing closely 16-13.

"Well, that's one round. Wonder what to do now?" Stephen asked. He was looking at chat with his camera on him, when he noticed the chat frantically telling him to check Makarov. "Check Mr. Dreyer?" He turned around and saw the old man breathing heavy and clutching his chest. "Mr. Dreyer!?" He asked in a panic. "How long have you been like this?"

"Just a…Couple of minutes…grk." He fell back on the bed.

"OH MY GOD!" He leapt out of his seat. "NATSU! CALL AN AMBULANCE!"

"What?" Natsu shouted rushing into his room. Seeing Makarov clutching his chest. "Gramps!?"

"No Time! Call an ambulance! Mr. Dreyer are you okay?"

The older man coughed as his breathing labored. He thought of something and rushed to the bathroom and grabbed his Bayer aspirin. He came back and pulled one out. "Here! Try to take one!"

Makarov opened his eyes and opened his mouth. "Chew on this. I'm gonna get you some water!"

Stephen rushed to the kitchen and got a glass. Lisanna came into see Stephen in a panic.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Makarov's having a heart attack! Get Erza, Mira and Polyrusica!"

Lisanna nodded and rushed out of the room. She ran into Lucy who looked worried.

"Makarov's having a heart attack! Stephen's trying to stabilize him!"

Lucy gasped and saw Stephen trying to calm the owner down. "Its gonna be okay, sir, we're gonna get you to a hospital!"

Makarov's face was still pale, but his breathing was beginning to slow. The American looked up to see Lucy. "I'm gonna move him, help me out."

Lucy nodded and helped him to Stephen's back. "Shut off the stream!"

The blonde nodded and after a couple moments of fiddling shut it down. She rushed after him, the team now gathered out in the hall. "Out of the way!"

Everyone did so as he rushed to the Common area. The medics had already arrived.

"I gave him a Bayer Aspirin and tried to cool him down!"

"Good! Let's get him into the van!" The medic said as they strapped the man to the stretcher and rushed him to the ambulance.

Stephen let out a breath and knelt to the ground. He looked behind him to see almost the entire team in shock. "Come on, get the cars and let's go! We aren't letting him be there alone!"

This got everyone of their stupor and scrambled to their cars, with the American getting in a van with Natsu, Lucy and the Strauss siblings.

The ride was silent as they went to the hospital. Lucy watched everyone look shell shocked, especially Stephen who could only look at his hands. She wanted to say something, but reading the mood, she said nothing and wrapped an arm around Natsu to comfort him.

Four hours later, everyone was at the hospital waiting for the status on Makarov. Stephen paced the room, looking incredibly tense. Lisanna, fed up with his pacing grabbed his arm.

"Calm Down," She told him gently. "He's going to be okay."

"You don't know that. And where the hell is Laxus? He should be here!"

"That's a good point, where is scar face?" Natsu demanded.

"Natsu…calm down it's a hospital." Lucy told her boyfriend.

The forward grumbled as he sat down. A doctor came into the waiting room, catching everyone's attention. "Makarov is doing well. The heart attack was mitigated thanks to the aspirin he was administered. He is well enough to receive visitors. Is there a Stephen Decatur here?"

Stephen raised his hand. "Yeah…that's me."

"Right. He asked for you to speak to you alone."

The American nodded and he followed the doctor to the hospital room. Gathering up his courage, he knocked on the door. Inside was Polyrusica finishing her examination of the owner. "That should be enough for further examination. Don't do anything that makes you wind up here again."

The doctors left the room to discuss further treatment, leaving the two alone, the lone sound being the heart monitor. An awkward few moments later, Stephen cleared his throat. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well considering I was nearly dead. I want to thank you and your chat."

Stephen rubbed his head. "I guess so, if I hadn't been paying attention to it, you might have had more permanent damage…or worse"

Makarov hummed from his spot on the bed. He looked outside to see the Magnolia skyline from the hospital's spot on the hill overlooking town. "This…Was not Natural."

"What…Your heart attack?" Stephen asked. "I mean, Laxus has been causing stress and everything. Maybe your medicine was just bad."

"I might be inclined to believe you if it weren't for one thing. Take a look at the bottle on the table."

Intrigued, Stephen grabbed the bottle. "This your heart medicine?"

"Yes. Look at the fill date."

Looking at the bottle, he widened his eyes. "November 10th," He whispered. "You got this yesterday. Or rather someone else did."

"Yes. When I noticed the seal broken, I assumed someone with our team broke the seal. Now it may not be the case."

"Are you saying…Someone tried to assassinate you?"

Makarov hummed. "Possibly. As it stands, we need to keep this under wraps. Someone in this league wants me dead."

"And possibly the rest of the team." Stephen concluded. "I need to step up the investigation. Are there any possible leads?"

Makarov nodded. "One. I still have contacts with Fiore Federation. My friend Warrod has been trying to find stuff on clubs like Oracion and Black Cube for years. He may know more."

"These teams, there is no way they can afford these players without a huge amount of income." Stephen asked. "That betting line with Oak Town should have set off alarm bells from FIFA."

"Warrod may have the answers. I also believe the Strauss siblings have connections to an old gang they ran with. Good lads, just trying to survive is all. I know Mira likes to bring them food and such."

Stephen smiled. "That's my next stop." He turned to walk out the door. "You good to receive other visitors?"

Makarov groaned. "I may as well. Send them up." Stephen nodded and began to leave.

"Not a word to anyone that isn't already in the know," The owner ordered. The American nodded and walked down the hall. When he got to the waiting room, he saw Natsu being held back by Grey and Erza, while Freed and Bickslow were holding the blond man back.

"What the heck happened?" Stephen demanded.

"That's what I want to know!" Gildarts growled.

Natsu shrugged off Lucy who backed away. "Laxus came in here not even caring that his grandfather was ill and he basically started ordering us around like he was you Gildarts!"

"With my grandfather down, that means I'm technically in charge. And that means I decide who's playing this week!" Laxus boasted.

Stephen shook his head. "No actually you're not in charge. As long as you're a player, you can't be an owner. A conflict of interest especially with the recent rumors of match fixing.

"He's right," Gildarts said cutting him off. "Managing like me and playing is fine. Playing and running day to day operations is a near impossible task. And someone at your age, you have no idea how to run a team!" He turned to the rest of the team. "Until Makarov's better, I'm acting in charge. Our board can handle the day to day until he's back on his feet." He glared at Laxus. "As for you. You're Suspended for the Veronica game, minimum!"

"You can't do this!" The scarred man roared.

"Can and did. I know you want to see your grandfather, but right now I can't guarantee you joining him!" Gildarts threatened.

Laxus snarled and stomped away.

"Serves him right for trying to throw his weight around!" Natsu frowned crossing his arms.

Gildarts turned around and pointed at Natsu. "You're not off the hook. You're benched for the First Half." He looked up to Stephen. "Is your head okay?"

"Yeah, I can go but Polyrusica suggested I not start the game," Stephen pointed out.

"But could you play all 90 if you could?" The coach pressed.

Stephen looked down to the floor in thought. Glancing at the hospital doors, he nodded to himself. "Yes."

Gildarts nodded. "Good. Let me talk to Polyrusica."

Before the coach could leave, the doctor came back to tell them that Makarov was okay for visitors. Being the rambunctious group they were, they all tried to visit him at once but the doctors sorted them out and allowed him to bring their flowers and cards in.

Next Day, Film Room about 11:00 AM

The team had announced what happened to Makarov. The official report was that he had a bad reaction to his medicine and thanks to the quick thinking of the players, Makarov was resting comfortably in Saint Nicholas Memorial Hospital. They also announced that Laxus had been suspended from the team for the Veronica game and Natsu and Stephen would swap their spots on the bench for the game, with the American getting the start.

The mood was somber as they entered the conference room. Though Makarov was recovering well, the fact that they didn't know when he would get out of the hospital kept the mood down.

Gildarts watched his team enter, some frowns, some, namely Laxus' faction looking upset. "I know that Makarov's health is a big concern and so is the brewing tensions on this team. Do not let it distract you from any game, even ones we should be winning." He saw their face brighten slightly. "He wouldn't want you worrying about him. So let's show him what it means to be Magnolia City!

The team let out a small cheer as Gildarts flicked on the projector. "Real Veronica has been struggling this year. 1 win six draws and 1 loss. But as the saying goes, any given Saturday. As this is the last game before the International Break, I don't want the distraction of the break and what's going to impact the game."

Stephen kept his head down. He was still getting over what happened to Makarov. If he hadn't invited Makarov to the stream, would he have died?"

"Stephen?" Lisanna nudged his elbow, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Gildarts looking at him.

"Are you sure you can play?" The coach asked.

Stephen nodded. "Yeah, just stuff on my mind."

Gildarts frowned. "Get your head together, for my sake otherwise I'm gonna have you benched as well.

The American sighed. "Yeah, alright. Sorry coach."

Gildarts finished his talk and dismissed everyone. Lisanna grabbed his shoulder. "I got you notes."

He smiled softly. "Thanks." He kissed her cheek and slowly walked back to the dorm. As he climbed the stairs. Looking down he saw that his dad was calling on the Whatsapp, which got around the international phone calls. "Stephen Decatur?"

" _Hey Champ! How's it going?_

"I'm doing alright." Stephen said as he unlocked the door. "What's up?"

" _I heard about your team owner. Heart attack caused by bad reaction to his medicine right?"_

"Yeah, it was kind of scary. He stopped me on my way to stream and he was in my room when he started having trouble. My chat warned me and…I did everything I was supposed to after…what happened with Grandpa."

" _I've never had healthy eating habits, I'm glad your mother helped turn me around. That Bayer Aspirin saved his life right?"_

"Yeah…he's gonna be fine." He trailed off.

" _Is everything alright?"_

"Yeah, its just….there's stuff going on behind the scenes that I really want to tell you but they got a gag order on me.

" _James Bond stuff?"_

"Yeah. Just, you know how you have your suspicions of Souske Limited. Something like that is happening here."

" _How bad is it?"_

"Black Sox bad." Stephen replied, referencing the infamous World Series Scandal that got 8 members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox thrown out of the game for accepting bribes. "Soccer always had something wrong with match fixing and hooligans. That concussion was pretty nasty and it came from essentially the equivalent to Miami. We still have to play our other big rival, which is set for the second week of December because of the Champion's League."

" _I'm glad you're doing alright. So a little birdy told me you are dating someone on the team?"_

Stephen groaned. "Damn it mom."

" _No. You may not realize this but I watch your streams from time to time. So Lisanna Strauss huh? She's cute. Her sister's a model right?"_

"Yeah it's Mirajane. They are both really pretty." He said with a glazed eye.

For the next half an hour, Stephen and his dad caught up with everything going on back home and what was going on in Fiore. Things like family, weddings, crazy news stories everything. He had to admit it was nice talking about the U.S

" _So did you hear about the streamer that's may be in the World Grand Prix?"_

"No? What happened?"

" _One of the drivers, Jushiro Utikate. He had a nasty hit in the Indian Race. He retired because of concussion concerns. Rumors are that Andrew Michaels might be taking over his ride._

"The Kurosaki team? I would think he'd be on Hendrick or Rousch.

" _Something about being childhood friends. Connections get you places in any business._

"Wow. Shame that none of the races come close to Fiore early in the year. Anyway, I should get going."

" _Alright, good luck tomorrow._

"Thanks Dad, love you."

" _Love you too."_

Stephen hung up the phone and sighed. "This mess is gonna be bloody I feel. Ugh…I don't feel like streaming today. Maybe I can catch something for DOTA." He sat up and went to grab a drink before settling for a night of MOBA action.

Next Day, November 13th, 30 minutes before game time

Stephen sighed as he sat in front of his locker. In his hands was the white and red armband with the initials MD for their chairman Makarov Dreyer. He was recovering well, the armbands were more for solidarity. It was underneath the armband that raised a few eyebrows. It was a simple red bandana similar to what Levy wore. After the United game, many of the fans had taken up wearing bandanas in a variety of colors, especially orange, red and white. Seeing a marketing opportunity, the head of the marketing department suggested that the American wear it.

Stephen went along with it, mainly because he felt it looked cool. Since it was sprung on him, he didn't get a chance to personalize it yet.

"Hey." Lisanna's gentle voice broke him out of his thoughts. "You alright?"

"Yeah," He replied standing up. "Just need to clear my head." He took a deep breath and pounded the locker. "Alright!"

The midfielder giggled. "That was funny."

"Well I was imitating my roommate a little." Stephen replied. "Almost feel like breaking into Limp Bisekt."

Lisanna tilted her head cutely. "Who?"

"I'll show you after the game." At that moment Mira strode up to them and wrapped her slender arms around the couple. "How are my baby sister and her boyfriend doing?" She squeezed Stephen's shoulder at the word.

"We're fine sis. Stop trying to scare Stephen."

The American looked aghast at the accusation. "Me scared of Mira? No she wouldn't hurt me?"

Mira tilted her head. "You're right. I wouldn't. Elfman on the other hand…"

Stephen gulped. "Yeah, good point. Anyway, you good to keep these forwards out of the goal?"

The older girl giggled. "Oh don't worry about us. Just score some goals for us."

"Yeah, since I ain't in the game you got to pick up the slack!" Natsu declared.

"Hahaha, I guess you're right!" Then the striker looked at his roommate seriously. "You would be out there if you kept your head. You should have been suspended as well."

He glanced over at Lucy. "He was harassing Lucy, how the heck was I supposed to respond."

Stephen patted him on the shoulder. "You did the right thing. I probably would have popped him in the jaw. But that was then, I can handle the load this time. Who knows, we can their ass so bad you won't be needed this game."

Natsu laughed. "Who knows right!" Before he could continue, Gildarts came into the room. "Alright twenty minutes, Subs hit the bench!"

Natsu sighed. "That's my cue. Good luck guys!" He followed all the other subs out.

Stephen hummed. "Right. Who knows…" He trailed off

Announcer Booth

Chapati: Good Afternoon Soccer Fans! We are here live from the always raucous Mavis Memorial Stadium in Magnolia for the week 11 match-up between first place Magnolia City and near bottom of the table Real Veronica. Magnolia City has been in the news a lot this week but not all of it good. The chairman Makarov Dreyer suffered a heart attack from is being described as a bad reaction to his heart medicine. The good news he is resting comfortably at Zyra Memorial Hospital and is in good spirits. From his twitter page, quote "If running a team like mine doesn't put me in the grave, this heart attack wouldn't. #FightMagicCity." Fight Magic City indeed. In addition to Makarov's condition, two suspensions came out this week. Jason what impact would they have on the game today.

Jason: Well Chapati, Laxus Dreyer who was the star of the Cup game against the Ogres has been suspended for behavior detrimental to the team for at least this game. Natsu Dragneel is also not starting today, but instead will begin on the bench. Essentially, switching out with Stephen Decatur, who is coming back from a concussion. Originally, they wanted him to be on the bench and ease him back into the line-up.

Chapati: It's not like they don't have the firepower to make up for it. This is only fourth time all year Dragneel hasn't started all year. Since Laxus Dreyer went down against Port Hargeon. It's been him and or Decatur in every game this year in league play and all but one in the cups.

Jason: With a very versatile midfield. (Erza, Lucy, Grey and Lisanna show up on camera) These four have been nothing short of spectacular, especially Lucy Heartfillia. (Her first goal against Hargeon is shown) This is her first year here in Magnolia and yet it's like she's been with this crew her whole life. She set people up so well and she has the accuracy to get the shots where they need to be. (Erza's passing to set up one of Natsu's goals is then shown) With Erza Scarlet at the helm, this midfield seems like it can do it all, even with the drama at the front.

Miles away, in Makarov's hospital room, he watched the broadcasters talk about his team. Romeo Conbolt, who wasn't at the game, sat next to him, with his father nearby. "Mr. Dreyer are you sure your okay watching the game like this?"

Makarov laughed. "If the doctors hadn't cleared me, I'd be on that sideline!" He coughed making the two occupants look at him in concern. "Don't worry about me boys, I just want out of this bed.

Macao nodded and watched the announcers continue to praise Magnolia City.

Booth

Chamati: On the flip side, Real Veronica is in free fall and eleven games in, they are already fighting for their Tier 1 lives.

Jason: They've already fired their coach and the owner Cream Jureaz is looking forward to the transfer window to get some new players.

Chapati: 1 win and six draws are not conductive to move forward in this leagues, especially when you still have teams like Magnolia United and Pegasus FC.

Jason: Unlike Black Cube, they haven't been dealing with the same injuries and overall, it feels like their team is not taking some of these games seriously.

Chapati: They can only hope as their schedule doesn't get easier.

In the tunnel, Stephen stood at the front of the line waiting for Erza to do their pre-game routine. He took a deep breath and hopped in place. "Let's kick some butt! Erza let's go!

The captain rolled her eyes. "Relax Stephen. You don't need to double your energy to make up for Natsu."

"Not that I blame him. He wants to win it for Makarov, just as much as we do." Lisanna said from in front of him."

"We all want to win it for Makarov, but do not let his not being here distract you." Erza ordered. She saw the stewards signal her and nodded. "Hands Up! Let's Go!" She barked high fiving them as she went passed. They all fell in line and repeated the captain's gesture, with Stephen bringing up the rear. He tapped Lisanna and Lucy on the shoulders and held up his fists. They pounded them and then their own as they got into position to take the field. The crowd's loud reaction indicated that their entrance music had begun. Climbing the stairs, the crowd roared as their league leading hometown heroes entered the field. Though they were smiling to the crowds, they were obviously concerned about the chairman.

Moments later, they did the coin toss and line up. Magnolia City then gathered around in a circle as the stadium announcer asked for prayers for Makarov's recovery. Breaking apart, Stephen stepped into the circle and waited for the whistle.

Booth

Chapati: Stephen Decatur waits patiently. He's the only striker in this 4-5-1 formation. (Whistle blows) And here we go from Mavis Memorial. Decatur passes it to Heartfillia, she's a girl to keep an on as she passes it up field to Fullbuster and he goes for a shot and misses wide.

Jason: This is the same problem that every team even teams like Barcelona has come to realize about Magnolia City. You cannot focus on one player, and you cannot let them dictate the pace of the game. They already are motivated, don't give them an inch.

The next several minutes proved Jason's point. Their defense, only allow a couple of passes by the back line. Meanwhile, the attack kept pressing the more than matched back line of Veronica, led by both Stephen and surprisingly Lucy. Stephen because he felt like he needed to do something to honor Makarov as he still felt a little guilty about the whole incident. Lucy because she wanted to show their team she can be another striker.

Booth

Chapati: The ball goes out. This offense has been relentless. 82% Possession and we're about 25 minutes in.

Jason: They are definitely motivated, especially Decatur and Heartfillia. But all that eagerness hasn't created a goal. However I feel like it will be a matter of time.

They weren't the only ones who noticed the fast play. Erza called them over during a free kick for Grey. "Lucy, Stephen this is normally not like you. What's going on?"

"Stephen needs a supporting player up with him." Lucy explained. "Though he says he can handle being the lone player, the way he's playing, they need another target to focus."

"I just have a lot of energy today alright? I can try to slow down. Normally I don't play the one person." Stephen replied.

Erza nodded. "Just don't overdo it." She said getting back into line.

Stephen mimed her last few words. "Don't overdo it. Geez if Natsu was doing it, she'd been encouraging it."

Lucy giggled. "He would." He glanced over to the bench to see Natsu pacing up and down the sideline. "He really wants to be out here."

"Yeah, well I'm staying until I drop. Or until I get a goal."

Lucy nodded and went back to the wall. After Grey's free kick, the game did slow down. But the attack was still in place, eventually one of them was going to break through. That came in the 42nd minute. As Grey broke up the sideline, he kicked it behind an advancing defender. To his good fortune, Lucy was trailing up behind him and she let it fly. The keeper couldn't react fast enough and it hit the top right corner, sending the crowd into a frenzy. As she celebrated, Natsu was the first one there to congratulate her.

Booth

Chapati: Fullbuster takes it up the sidelines has two defenders in front of him, back kicks to Heartfillia. Takes the SHOT! AND IN! RIGHT THROUGH THE HANDS OF THE KEEPER! 1-0 Magnolia City!

Jason: It was only a matter of time before they got in. And wouldn't you know it was Lucky Lucy. What a set up by Grey Fullbuster and what a finish by Heartfillia.

Magnolia City 1-0 Real Veronica

Heartfillia (MAGC) 42'

As the half ended, the crowd was lit up as their team went back into the locker room. From his hospital room, Makarov grinned. "Lucy's showing why I signed her. She's got that spark to drive everyone forward.

Macao chuckled. "Doesn't hurt she's not half bad looking."

"Now Macao what would your wife think of you perving on a younger player," the owner asked knowing the answer.

Romeo shook his head. "You would think he'd learn." He watched the highlights come forward. "You think we can keep this going?"

Makarov hummed. "Perhaps. We still have two games against the likes of Pegasus, Tenrou and…."

"Alverez." Macao finished. "One of our last games before Christmas. I think the last game before the return matches."

Makarov nodded. "Yes. But I'm a bit more concerned about FC Bosco, the game after our final Champion's League group game." He watched the commentators talk about other matters around the league. "This team…I haven't seen a team so good in Fiore since I was playing."

Back at the stadium

The teams took the field for the second half. Real Veronica looked dejected, their wariness of playing this game already showing. By contrast, Magnolia City came out with energy, especially Natsu who finally got to play as he replaced Cana and moved to their normal 4-4-2.

Booth

Chapatti: As we begin the second half, Magnolia City is only up 1-0. Though by the way they played they should have had more goals.

Jason: This is the team many people thought they were going to get next year. The energy, the teamwork, we expected a few months for everyone to gel. This is unheard of.

Chapatti: And if the day hadn't gotten worse for Veronica, guess who's checking in for Albornea. It's Natsu Dragneel.

Jason: The crowd feels it too as Natsu races onto the field and takes his position next to Decatur.

Stephen bumped fists with his roommate. "You ready to go?"

"I'm Fired up! Let's GO!" Natsu roared.

The ref signaled Veronica to start the half. For the first five minutes, it looked Veronica would be able to get in the game. A couple of shots got passed the back line, but Elfman despite not doing much the entire game was on point with a couple of saves.

Magnolia City slowly ratcheted up the pressure, but despite several opportunities, the ball couldn't find the net.

Around the 70th minute mark, Stephen got tackled, drawing a foul and a free kick. He sprang up quickly and took the ball from the refs hand and placed it on the designated spot, to the keeper's left about twenty yards out. He looked and saw the wall being arraigned and the teams jockeying for position. His vision greyed out as he lined up the shot. As it stood, the ball wasn't going to go in, rather it was gonna hit the bar. Every angle, even those going to another teammate were either going to miss or they were going to be saved.

Looking at his feet, he noticed all of this came from his right foot. Concentrating on his left, he saw more shots and found an angle to shoot from. He took a step back and to everyone's surprise stepped to the right, a position normally reserved for left footed kickers, when he was clearly a righty. Raising his hand up to signal ready, he wound up and launched the ball. Because of his different position, it went around the wall and past the keeper and in. He saw it go in and he began to rock out with his air guitar.

Booth

Chapati: Decatur lining up, he walks to the opposite side? This is unusual for him, he's normally a right foot kicker. (Whistle) Here comes the kick. Decatur fires…pass the WALL AND IN! WHAT A SHOT!

Jason: Who knew he could do such a beautiful bending shot like that. That was all sort of surprising. And a beautiful finish.

As they celebrated, Stephen noticed the cameras on them and motioned to the rest of the team. As one they held up their arms to show their bands. From his hospital room, Makarov laughed hard as he saw that despite him not being there, his team showing support for the old man warmed his heart.

Magnolia City 2-0 Real Veronica

Heartfillia (MAGC) 42'

Decatur (MAGC) 71'

After the goal, the game settled down and the game ended with the 2-0 score. As they walked off the field, Natsu held up his hand in a backwards L, the team's hand gesture, prompting everyone on the team to do the same, followed by the crowd. Makarov say the gesture and tears came to his eyes at the love and support from everyone.

As Magnolia City continues its impressive run, they begin enter the meat of their schedule with several tough games in league, in their cups and Internatinally. With internal struggles brewing, can they keep it up? Find out as the season continues.

 **END OF CHAPTER**

 **UO: Good lord that took a while. Other projects, Thanksgiving and moving kills a mood**

 **Teams:**

 **Real Veronica: A realtively weak team based out of the old country of Veronica. They have yet to win a major title and are undergoing a transition**

 **Emblem: A White Phoneix over an olive tree**

 **Preview: As they enter their toughest stretch of the season, Stephen continues his investigations and discovers something that turns it upside down. Meanwhile, Laxus continues to cause trouble, to the point where a Civil War might occur. What will happen? Find out.**

 **Next time: Family Feud, FC Bosco vs Magnolia City**

 **Next update will depend on my mood but it might be Remnants of Tri**


End file.
